Abstract
Ships for drilling need to operate in the territorial waters of many different countries which can have different technical standards and procedures. For example, the European Union and European Economic Area EU/EEA product safety directives exclude from their scope drilling ships and related equipment onboard. On the other hand, the EU/EEA offshore safety directive requires the application of all the best technical standards that are used worldwide in the oil and gas industry. Consequently, it is not easy to select the most appropriate technical standards that increase the overall level of safety and environmental protection whilst avoiding the costs of additional certifications. We will show how some technical standards and procedures, which are recognized worldwide by the petroleum industry, can be accepted by various standardization bodies, and how they can fulfil the essential health and safety requirements of certain directives. Emphasis will be placed on the prevention of fire and explosion, on the safe use of equipment under pressure, and on the protection of personnel who work with machinery. Additionally considered is how the proper use of adequate procedures available at the time would have prevented three large scale offshore petroleum accidents: the Macondo Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010; the Montara in the Timor Sea in 2009; the Piper Alpha in the North Sea in 1988.
Highlights
Today, when the protection of the environment is a top priority, it is imperative to protect oceans from pollution
The MODU code is used in relation to the European Economic Area (EU/Economic Area (EEA)) product safety directives as follows: (1) Protection against explosions; (2) Protection of pressure equipment; (3) Protection of personnel who works with machinery: (1) Protection against explosions: The ATEX directive 2014/34/European Union (EU) protects equipment onshore and on offshore fixed platforms and the ATEX directive 1999/92/EC protects personnel [37]
The technical standards used in the offshore petroleum industry are high level, but sometimes they are inadequately applied
Summary
Today, when the protection of the environment is a top priority, it is imperative to protect oceans from pollution. The cause of the accident has been unclear to date, but most probably it was due to bad maintenance management—the release of as little as 30 kg of condensate (mainly propane) over thirty seconds through an unsecured blind flange, where a pressure safety relief valve had been removed as part of maintenance on the standby condensate pump [27] From these three examples, it is obvious that devices and equipment for the offshore petroleum industry are manufactured in different countries and most probably using many different technical standards. We will describe the specific situation in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), where the product safety directives explicitly exclude from their scope offshore mobile units for drilling, and in some cases, related equipment on board (with some extensions to the well-control equipment under pressure, which is used onshore) Details about these exclusions will be explained especially in the spotlight of the EU/EEA offshore safety directive, which explicitly requires the use of the best worldwide available technical standards. Some notes about the prevention of major or other types of accidents in the offshore petroleum industry will be examined, mostly in respect to the safe use of equipment under pressure, protection against fire and explosions, the protection of staff who work with machinery, etc
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