| Abstract | In the past two decades, offshore technology has advanced quickly, allowing operators to move into more challenging areas of exploration. Over the same period the number of lives lost on offshore platforms has increased dramatically, with most lives lost in emergency situations requiring evacuation. The problems of safe evacuation of offshore personnel in high winds, poor visibility and rough seas were high-lighted with the capsizing of the accommodation rig Alexander Kielland, the explosion of the Piper Alpha platform and the sinking of the semisubmersible drilling unit Ocean Ranger. A study designed to improve the understanding of the behaviour of offshore evacuation was conducted at the Institute for Marine Dynamics (IMD) during August and September 1996. Four evacuation systems, approved by the Canadian Coast Guard, (Davit, PrOD, Seascape and Freefall) were used to deploy a Motor Propelled Survival Craft (TEMPSC) from a semisubmersible rig in even keel, damage and extreme damage conditions. The objective of the study was to evaluate the smoothness of delivery of the TEMPSC to the water, the ability of the evacuation systems to work when the semisubmersible was in a damaged condition, and the ability of the TEMPSC to sail away from the rig area. The aim of the study was to provide operators and regulators with a rational basis for comparison between systems thus, allowing for more realistic cost/risk tradeoff analysis. |
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