Bourbon Dolphin capsizes

would ya hire me Lazy'z?,,hehe,,, my ship name is " hippy-waders" and my ticket # is 420
i have HUGE amounts of experience with standing by boats and looking pretty

 

Please Do Not Feed the Troll

Cheers,

Earl

 

wasnt feeding noone,,,this thread needed a laugh,, but as we see,, you couldnt stop "feeding",,,,, thanks,,

 

The Rig Move Procedures Workgroup (Marine Safety Forum) have now completed their Guidelines For the Content of Rig Moving Procedures.

The guidelines combine the North West European Area Guidelines for the Safe Management of Offshore Supply and Anchor Handling Operations and OLF 61A.They also include the recommendations from the inquiry into the loss of the Bourbon Dolphin.

http://www.marinesafetyforum.org/up...-content-of-rig-move-procedures-sept-2008.pdf

Cheers.

 

ok mate he has gone, hire you? surely, come weld with me,

 

yes Much I would hire you, youa re upfront and honest, but almost a redneck, but not quite, ,

 

I wonder what "Brief AHTS master prior to leaving port, and notify point of contact.
MSF ‘Vessel Health, Safety and Environmental Check List’ to be completed at this time." actually means - how much more paperwork just got dumped on the Master's lap?

"AHTS to be fit for purpose and capable of 24 hours working and two man bridge watches.
( Refer to vessels ‘Anchor Handling Manual’)"
This is probably one of the greatest problems facing the anchor handling industry right now. There are a bunch fo new vessels being cranked out and a sever lack of experience in the wheelhouse. Can you imagine the reaction from the main office if the vessel master said "Sorry folks, I have been up for 3 days and my relief Captain doesn't have the experience to run this next leg?"

Doesn't it strike anyone else as strange how little experience the BD crew had working anchors? The CEO of Bourbon stated that a master had to have five rig moves under his belt before being turned loose. The thought of only five anchor handling operations to try and see everything that needs to be done is like telling someone that they only have to sit in the cockpit five times before landing the passenger jet.

Again they are trying to make rules and regulations to protect everyone - the problem is that without a strong safety commitment from the top of the company to the bottom any rule or regulation is only there for the lawyers to argue about after the fact.

 

Agree with you on that one Chuck, takes years to gain AH experience, 5 moves and then chucked into a deepwater rigmove is not going to cut it.
I had to step in and stop our personnel department from putting a deep sea mate in as permament mate on a large AH when he had only seen one rig move!!.

We're really struggling for people now, we have 18 new builds on the way over the next 3 to 4 years, and we can hardly man the ones we have at the moment.

The new boat I'm standing by will be working the summer months in the Baltic with a pipe lay barge, once the usual new build problems are ironed out, I'll be trying to get as many mates onboard to train up, as they'll sure have the opportunity to run anchors on that job

All the best
Nigel

 

In a few days there's going to take place at Vigo a technical session on the new breed of offshore vessels, organized by the classification society Det Norske Veritas, the one that classified the Bourbon Dolphin. A pity I' cannot attend, as I'm going to be out of town those days. I would have liked very much to ask the guys several questions.

Today I've learned about the new seismic vessels being built in Vigo under Ulstein design. They tow up to eight 8 km long hydrophones streamers and emit sound pulses of 220 dB at 1 m. My God, poor sea creatures passing under that!

 

Just an image to show streamers towing.

(A concise explanation on the system here: http://www.geozentrum-hannover.de/n...ismische__verfahren__node__en.html?__nnn=true)

Cheers

 

hehehe,,, thanks for "almost" ,, haha
would have been an insult if it was omitted,,hahaha

 

Marine Safety Forum has released its Anchor Handling Manual.
http://www.marinesafetyforum.org/upload-files//guidelines/anchor-handling-manual-msf-.pdf

From there:

"1. Stability
Stability of vessel should be checked prior to starting. In addition to sailing condition, stability calculations should consider worst case scenarios which may occur towards the end of a prolonged job. Printouts of these conditions are to be displayed throughout the operation and reviewed as soon as there is any event which may change the vessel’s condition.

Any criteria in the approved Stability Booklet must be adhered to.

Prior to sailing a document must be displayed on the bridge, where it is visible to be navigator on duty, to show the acceptable vertical and horizontal transverse force/tensions to which the vessel can be exposed. This should show a sketch of the GZ curve and a table of the tension/forces which give the maximum acceptable heeling moment.

Calculations must show the maximum acceptable tension in wire/chain, including transverse force, that can be accepted in order for the vessel’s maximum heeling to be limited by one of the following angles:-

a) Heeling angle equivalent to a GZ value equal to 50% of GZ max.
b) The angle of flooding of the work deck – i.e. the angle which results in water on working deck when the deck is flat.
c) 15 degrees.

The calculation should then be made to show the maximum force from the wire/chain, acting down at the stern roller and transversely to the outer pins, which would be acceptable without taking the vessel beyond the angles stated above.

The heeling moment based on transverse bollard pull must also be shown and allowed for. NMD Anchor Handling guidelines suggest that the vertical component is to be taken as the distance (vertically) from the deck at the tow pins to the centre of the stern thruster or propeller shaft, whichever is the lower.

The notice to be posted should also show the maximum force in the wire/chain as well as the point where the lateral force is assumed to be applied (towing pin/stern roller).

The maximum vertical pull on the wire/chain must not be such as to exceed those limits given above or to exceed the SWL of the roller. It may be necessary to obtain some of the information needed for the above calculations from the charterer or their representative.

If a deep water move is planned, weight on stern roller can be hundreds of tonnes, which will be applied at a distance off centre line according to the set-up of the towing pins. This will add to listing moments and stern trim; this type of vessel usually suffers reduction of stability and the deck edge is immersed earlier as the stern trim increases. A flooded deck at this point, e.g. from a breaking wave can also cause a temporary reduction in stability.

Fuel consumption from double bottoms must also be considered along with use of fresh water and ballasting condition. Before any ballasting operation is carried out the operator should be aware of the immense effect on stability of having any tank slack, particularly transverse roll reduction tanks. Consideration should be given to the maximum listing/heeling angle which would be acceptable during the operation and forethought given to what action to take should such an angle be approached. To preserve stability, by
reducing the risk of flooding, all watertight doors which open onto the maindeck and give access to underdeck spaces should be kept shut, except for access, throughout the operation. All such doors should be marked to the effect that they should not be left open during anchorhandling or towing operations.

A summary sheet containing a GZ curve and Loading Condition Summary for the current voyage, as per example in Section 4, should be inserted in a pocket inside the front page of the Manual."

It's a very interesting document with thorough operations analysis and recomendations. I'd love to hear the opinion of the pros here about it.
Cheers.

 

Marine Safety Forum Anchor Handling Manual

While the stability considerations seem to have been well covered (and only as a result of the BD incident), I feel the rest of the manual leaves a lot to be desired.

What it covers is known to experienced anchor handling skippers and mates. If it is intended as a guide for less experienced crew, then it should have been made more comprehensive.

A couple of examples taken from the manual

“Using the navigation system supplied, head towards the anchor, while
paying out wire (including the PCP) to 1.4 times water depth. Come on
to the anchor slowly, less than 1 knot. With the rigs approval, bring the
ahead power up to around 50 tonnes, and once the rig has slacked
down the chain tension, wind in on the winch, until the anchor is under
the stern roller. Reduce ahead power, and the rig will wind in chain.
Normally the weight of the chain, (maybe 126kg/m depending on size),
will stop the anchor falling out of the collar, but some ahead power
helps keeping the vessel on the correct line.”

The above description is probably the best method a work wire. You do NOT just run out to the anchor and then happily start winding away on the winch and hope the anchor pops out of the sea bed. With a well dug in anchor, and considering the displacement of many modern anchor handling vessels, as soon as the wire comes near to vertical, the tensions will be enormous and the wire or the PCP will part. The idea in breaking out anchors is to use the vessels bollard pull with the work wire leading well astern, to pull the anchor out.
Off West Africa, with a rig using Bruce anchors, it was not uncommon to take 24hrs to break out an anchor using 180 tonnes wire tension.


Also, in the section on towing

“When towing in heavy swell the strain gauge can often be registering
from 0 to 250 tonnes, just from the motion of the vessel and rig, with
only 80 tonnes ahead power on.”

This sort of tension usually occurs when towing in heaving seas and the vessel running down sea/wind. If the tension meter is indicating 0 to 250 tonnes, its telling you the wire is going to part. Why does the manual not give an indication of what the vessel should do, i.e., turn round and heave to head to sea, oh, I know, that means delaying the tow and costing the oil company money


“With these weights chafe of the tow wire is a problem. Freshen the nip
by slacking a couple of metres every 3 to 6 hours, depending on
weather. If towing for days, or weeks, a purpose made plastic protector
may be fitted to the wire and moved to the stern roller. This has to be
removed if bad weather means more wire needs to be put out. “

To be honest, this statement is bollocks. Tow wire protectors should be used especially in bad weather. The protector is designed to prevent chafe, wear on the outer wires. A well rigged system will allow the wire to be veered/heaved without anyone having to touch the wire protector. (see attached picture)
The paragraph also gives the impression that if the wire protector is fitted, then the wire cannot be veered/heaved, another good way to lose the tow, as most tow wires part at the stern of the tug due to the cyclic bending of the wire as it passes over the stern, and also through the gog. As a matter of course, the wire has to be moved a few meters every few hours, and more frequently in heavy weather



“During tandem and joint towing operations the towing gear must be
connected in towing hooks with emergency release or in some other
way be arranged so that in case of breakage in towing line or loss of
power/bollard pull in one of the vessels, the other may be quickly
disconnected.”

I do not know of any large anchor handling vessels fitted with towing hooks. Using a towing hook also means you have no control of the wire, so it is impossible to heave/veer.
Hooks are used by small harbour tugs, and often they use a wire/rope supplied from the towed ship.
Also, if one of the towing vessel loses the tow, or loses power, why on earth would the second towing vessel want to disconnect.

All in all, this manual has covered the stability aspects well, it will mean a lot of vessels having to have stability booklets re-worked, and will prove an expensive exercise for owners. What the manual should have suggested is that all anchor handlers should be fitted with stability computers to make the calculation less onerous for the crew, and so that conditions can be worked quickly.
It appears that the manual has been put together by a committee, and a not very experienced one at that

Safe sailing
Nigel

 

One item which the MSF has not yet published any information on concerns the drilling rigs. Are they fit for purpose. In the case of the Transocean Rather, seems she does not have appropriate mooring gear suited for deep water work, as noted by the fact that the AH vessels had to attach 1000m chain to the rig chain, and that the rig winches were struggling.
I was told by a officer on one of the Highland boats, that at a previous mooring operation with the Rather, they had 3 boats on one mooring system attempting to breakout and recover an anchor. In the end they had to hire in a fourth boat, either the Olympic Hercules or Pegasus, which is about 23,000HP.
They managed to breakout the anchor, but somewhere along the line, one boat lost grip with her grapnel/J hook on the chain, casuing all the rest to lose theres, ended up with 4 boats all moving very quickly towards each other, and a multiple pile up was narrowly avoided. Once the anchor was back on the rig, the skipper on the Olympic boat told the rig where they could put the rest of their anchors, and he headed off back to town

Nigel

 

Hi Nigel,

I've said this before and, although I am not from your trade, I will say it again. It seems that your industry has moved to deeper water and simply extended your chain lengths.

The same boats and the same rig winches are dealing with double and treble the weights using the same techniques, but with the added hazards of joining in the extra chain and overboarding the anchor while another vessel has the chain in a hook. OK I know that there are much larger vessels around now but they are still using the smaller ones. Would it not have been feasible to class boats for anchor handling giving a maximum operating depth with chain?

Is any equipment being developed that does away with hooks and grapples? It should not be impossible to develop new, safer methods and tackle.


Regards


Murdo