Offshore wind cable vessel (photo: Simon Mockler)

The Joint Industry Project (JIP), focussing on the development of a new design and certification standard for equipment for pipeline and cable offshore operations, aims to reduce uncertainty, cost, increase efficiency and safety throughout the lifecycle of the equipment.

Pipeline and cable operations is a dynamic field of technology, with multiple players, leading to a level of complexity and lack of standardisation in the most common terms used within the oil and gas industry.

Phase 1, “Mapping the big picture”, focused on the identification and clarification of the following essential aspects:

The differences between the equipment types and the standard lifting appliances;

The building blocks and functional groups in the pipeline and cable operation deck spread.

A key attribute of phase 1 was the drafting of a glossary for the definition of the common terms used across the industry. “This in itself is a huge step forward in the standardisation process but there is still some work to be done during the course of Phase 2 on this task” says Dr.Eng. Marius Popa, JIP project manager, DNV GL – Oil & Gas.

The data analysed during phase 1 has identified and recorded various processes across the industry regarding equipment for pipeline and cable offshore operations. The activities of Phase 2 will be focused on the development of a separate standard for the pipeline and cable operations equipment that will harmonise the position of individual stakeholders and consolidate the trend for a standard approach throughout the lifecycle of the equipment.

Marius Popa, adds, “The development of a standard for this type of equipment will create an industry wide consensus on an agreed set of practices to follow for the design and certification of these products as equipment, or as integrated parts in a system, dedicated to, and customised for, a specific asset. This will allow stakeholders to increase transparency and reduce the risk in the early phases of the equipment development and ensure consistency across the supply chain.” Due, to start shortly, Phase 2 is planned to take 12 to 18 months.

Tags: DNV GL