Long-Range Rescue Capability for Operations in the Barents Sea

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of providing long-range search and rescue for personnel in the Barents Sea. This may be due to a helicopter ditching or accident while en route to or from an offshore petroleum installation in the Barents Sea or a maritime accident. The paper will propose a combination of a SAR helicopter and multipurpose emergency response vessels. The paper will illustrate improved search and rescue capacity both for personnel involved in the petroleum industry and others i.e., fisheries, maritime transport and tourism. The basis for this paper is petroleum exploration activity in the far North Eastern area of the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. The area is currently being evaluated in a process that most probably will lead to opening the area for oil and gas exploration. There is currently little or no infrastructure in the area beyond the coast. The paper considers a method to provide SAR coverage over a distance of 260 nautical miles with a minimum rescue capacity of 21 persons within two hours. Issues related to survival in cold water, immersion survival suits and performance requirements for search and rescue resources will be considered in order to provide an optimum combination and enhanced probability of survival if an incident should occur. Operational considerations involving departure criteria for helicopter transport should be developed in order to ensure that persons travelling on a helicopter to remote locations in the Barents Sea have a reasonable prospect of surviving a helicopter ditching and subsequently being rescued. Multipurpose Emergency Response Vessels, ERVs, equipped with dual Fast Recovery Daughter Craft, FRDC, capable of operating in an Arctic climate deployed at the remote location and en route together with an onshore based search and rescue, SAR, helicopter may provide a rescue capacity for 21 persons within 120 minutes. As vessels of the type proposed in this paper may be of a benefit to all stakeholders performing activities in the Barents Sea, joint venture financing by the authorities, petroleum, maritime, fishing and tourism industries could be considered.