Last October the FPSO community came together again. This time in historic downtown Galveston to discuss the future of monitoring, operations and integrity management. More than 100 epresentatives from oil operators, design companies and class societies gathered to discuss their experiences with FPSOs after delivery.
MARIN kicked off the event with a presentation on the need to bridge the gap between design and operations. The audience were shown examples how to close the loop from design to concept and operation. In today’s connected world, more and more data is being gathered on FPSOs. To make sense of the full-scale data, the Monitas Joint Industry Project has developed a methodology whereby the data is being fed back into design models for fatigue loading to estimate the remaining fatigue life.
Total presented its experience with mooring monitoring and concluded that more reliable instrumentation is needed. Total also said that it would like to design the monitoring equipment for a possible future replacement.
Five new research projects were introduced and discussed to collect feedback and support. When these projects start, they will join other Joint Industry Projects on hydro, hull and mooring strength in the FPSO JIP Week.
The next JIP Week will be hosted by EM&I in the UK, April 9-13. You are welcome to register for this event at www.fpsoforum.com. For more information contact Olaf Waals, offshore@marin.nl.
