Abstract
Marine growth on offshore platforms has many implications for the oil and gas industry. First, there are engineering aspects such as increase in structural loading of the structure, affecting the dynamic response for the drag forces, calculated by naval engineers. Second, there are fouling problems at the heating exchange mechanisms and other pipes collecting sea water (problems similar to power plants located on the coast using sea water for cooling). Finally, we have the transport of fouling from one biogeographical region to another. The rapidly rising world energy requirement, with platforms being built in different shipyards of the world, creates an artificial situation of a sessile benthic organism (biofouling) being transported from one ocean to another. These unintentional introductions of non-native aquatic organisms have resulted in the establishment of many species beyond their native ranges (Gollasch, 2002).
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