Towing Vessel Safety: Risk-Based Maintenance and Inspection of Towing Vessel Machinery and Systems

Failures of machinery and systems aboard towing vessels can have devastating consequences to the vessel, its crew, other vessels and their crews, shoreside populations and facilities, cargoes, marine transportation systems, commerce, and the environment. This paper presents a comprehensive methodology for implementing Risk-Based Maintenance and Inspections of towing vessel machinery and systems. Utilizing incident data from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and other relevant industry information, the authors apply the principles set forth in ANSI/API Recommended Practice 580, Risk-based Inspection [1], as a guideline. Relatively straightforward to implement, the methodology presented in this paper is expected to improve towing vessel safety, reduce potential dangers associated with towing operations, and provide favorable risk/benefit reward to vessel owners. Paper published with permission.

Understanding the Human Element in LNG Bunkering

Scenario based learning that places you in the various roles within the LNG bunkering process. Understand the knowledge requirements necessary to maximise safety in LNG bunkering operations. Discover how to assess the competency gap between crew, terminal personnel and port staff to mitigate the human element risks in LNG bunkering. Work together to utilize this analysis to determine training that builds upon existing skills, optimizes training times and harmonises with those involved in the operations. Paper published with permission.

Oil in Water Monitoring Using Advanced Light Scattering

The paper provides background on how bilge water has changed over the years and how technology has enabled manufacturers to stay ahead of the curve by borrowing technological breakthroughs from other areas to the measurement of oil content in the marine environment. Light scattering provides today a universal and reliable method, able to measure the wide range of oils present in a wildly variable and unpredictable bilge water mixture. Bilge water regulations were put in place to reduce the potential of harm to the environment from oily bilge water discharges. Regulations require that instruments verify effluent quality continually during the discharge process, which precludes the adoption for shipboard use of standard laboratory style testing with the associated time delays to complete the analysis. Measuring oil content with the light scattering measuring instrument is a tried and tested means for compliant bilge water verification. State of the art instruments employ sophisticated light measuring systems and they use complex algorithms to convert the scattered light pattern values into oil content reading, thereby considering interference from other than oil suspended matter, they prevent harm to the environment from bilge water discharges. Paper published with permission.

Experiences From Seven Years of DP Software Testing

This paper summarizes experiences from independent HIL testing of DP system software on more than 80 DP drilling, shuttle tanker, supply, anchor handling, construction and special purpose vessels. The paper includes examples of typical findings and a comprehensive analysis of finding statistics. The analysis shows how errors and weaknesses in core software and system configuration are distributed on the different functions in the DP system, as well as the potential consequence these errors could have had if they had not been identified and solved through early testing. The presented experiences demonstrate that independent testing of control systems using HIL testing technology is an important and effective service to ensure safe and reliable operation of offshore vessels. Paper published with permission.

Post Macondo Safety and Regulatory Issues: Human Factors From an Organizational Development and Senior Management Perspective

Regulations governing the safety of drilling and offshore production operations have changed since the Macondo spill. This paper suggests management level perspectives on the nexus of human factors and safety management systems including an overview of ideas from: Congressional Testimony; the Bipartisan Policy Center inputs to the Presidents Commission on the Spill; the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council Deepwater Horizon Report, and workshops and initiatives by RPSEA (Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America), SPE, and ASME. The value of benchmarks from risk management practices from the aviation, nuclear power, and financial community are also discussed. The paper will also consider questions as to what management might consider reducing risk and treating risk management as not just a cost center, but as a way to integrate safety management systems into improving corporate performance for all stakeholders. Paper published with permission.

Design and Certification of Type C Independent Tanks for Gas Fuelled Ships

The design and certification of Type C independent tanks for gas fuelled ships presents a unique set of challenges. This paper examines some of these challenges and provides a step-by-step overview of the design and certification process for these tanks. Apart from design considerations, this paper also elaborates on some of the fabrication, inspection and testing requirements for these tanks. Paper published with permission.

Application of ASME Section VIII Division 3 Design Requirements to Offshore High Pressure Equipment

Offshore oil and gas wells are being drilled into formations that have pressures up to 200 MPa (30,000 psi) and temperatures over 175°C (350°F). Most of the existing API Standards for pressure equipment, such as valves and blow out preventers (BOPs), are limited to pressures of about 100 MPa (15,000 psi). The design requirements in ASME Section VIII Division 3, Alternative Rules for Construction of High Pressure Vessels (Div. 3), can be adapted for the design of this equipment with some modifications. Since the strength of the materials used in these applications is limited due to environmental cracking concerns, it is necessary to accept some local yielding in areas of stress concentrations. Therefore, it is particularly important to apply the elastic-plastic analysis requirements in Div. 3 with appropriate limits on local strain as well as the robust fracture mechanics based fatigue analysis requirements. Paper published with permission.

Development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Marine Application

Last decade has seen a spurt in autonomous technologies in military and civilian sectors. The search for oil and gas is moving into ever deeper waters, and the need for coastal surveillance and climatic monitoring, makes underwater autonomous assistance quite obvious for a developing nation like India with thousands of kilometres of coastline. Using such platforms in these endeavours provides an efficient way to keep human life out of harm’s way in hostile environments. The prototype developed has its navigation based on an internal IMU (Inertial Mass Unit) and the software is extensible to support DVL (Doppler Velocity Logger) based navigation. Near range object detection and path planning is achieved via Image Processing and using two surge and one heave thrusters the bot can operate in three degrees of freedom. The modular structure allows for the addition of extra sensors like pressure, temperature and manipulators like grippers and torpedoes. It has a Intel Atom processor, which runs the control algorithms for motion and required task completion. Paper published with permission.

Jurisdictional Acceptance of Non-ASME Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy

The Code of Federal Regulations specifically adopts the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code as the standards for diving systems in US waters. Not all hyperbaric systems are made to ASME standards. This paper presents methods used successfully to obtain US Coast Guard and other jurisdictional approval of non-ASME pressure vessels for human occupancy. Paper published with permission.

Grooved Pipe Joints on Shipboard Applications

Grooved piping has been used on shipboard applications since the early 1920’s, first in the United Kingdom than many other parts of the world. It gained rapid acceptance in the UK for its many advantages over flange connections. In the US it was used on many Merchant and Naval vessels constructed during World War II, partly for its speed of installation, but also for its less fussy tolerance requirements with regard to pipe length and joint alignment. It has since grown to become used worldwide in many types of vessels. This paper enumerates grooved pipe joints advantages and its technical underpinnings. Paper published with permission.