IMCA's Scandinavian Summer
This year's Offshore Northsea boasts over 30 members of the influential International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) amongst its exhibitors. These include a growing number of Norwegian companies, plus international companies with or without offices in Scandinavia, reflecting IMCA's increased recognition in the region. Many of them will be in Scandinavia again in mid-September to take part in the 14th Annual IMCA Seminar in Copenhagen (19-20 September at the Copenhagen Marriott Hotel). With its theme 'Diversity in Marine Contracting' the 14th Annual IMCA Seminar is designed to reflect the rich expansion of activity currently underway in the offshore oil and gas industry. Organised by all four IMCA technical divisions - Marine, Diving, Offshore Survey and Remote systems & ROV, the conference programme reflects the wide range of operations carried out within the marine contracting industry but with common interest reflected in every included theme. Endorsed by IADC and OGP, the seminar will bring together engineers, managers and offshore personnel from contractors, clients, consultants, equipment manufacturers and others from around the global industry.
Held over two days with networking opportunities the evening before the seminar starts and on both days of the event, the seminar opens with a welcome address by Robin Davies of Subsea 7 who chairs IMCA's Europe & Africa Section; followed by keynote addresses by Frits Janmaat, Vice President Finance, Legal & Commercial, Allseas - IMCA's President; Tom Røtjer, Senior Vice President, Projects, Norsk Hydro; Don Vardeman, Vice President Facility Engineering, Kerr McGee and Dave Conway, Vice President, Supply Chain, Shell.
'Guidelines on surface positioning installations and use of high accuracy position in DP' is the topic David Russell of Veripos will cover; Nils Albert Jenssen from Kongsberg ensures that 'innovations within integrated systems for navigation, DP and automation' come under the conference spotlight. Delegates hear about 'DDPS - a Petrobras DP safety programme' from Afonso André Pallaoro of Petrobras.
Diving topics under discussion will be just as relevant and will cover 'failure of diving equipment - how and what to look for when auditing' (Mike Jessop, Hydra Marine); DNV's approach to 'certification of diving equipment through the eyes' of Sverre Gylseth from the classification society; and 'contamination monitoring', a presentation by Allan Cameron of Subsea 7.
After lunch John Greensmyth of Technip will look at 'diver medic/first aid - on-the-job drills and exercises'; David Parkes, Diver Certification Board of Canada discusses 'diver training and how it is arranged and monitored'; and a speaker from Geo Subsea will talk about 'saturation diving on a dam repair project'.
The conference then moves to parallel workshops on surface positioning integrity, marine crew training and competence, first aid and diver medic training; contamination monitoring; and a ‘delegates' choice workshop. "This year we have spelled out in some detail the topics we expect will be covered in each workshop to help delegates decide which ones are best suited to their needs," explains IMCA's Technical Director, Jane Bugler.
A joint plenary session starts the second day of the IMCA seminar with topics under discussion including 'moving safety forward' (Finn Brodersen, Maersk); a report on 'competence, communication and control: the story so far of the IMCA Crane & Winch Operations Workgroup' by Wallace Robertson of Well Ops; and 'diving in anchor patterns by Joar Gangenes of Acergy.
In the two parallel sessions prior to lunch, the marine session will focus on the 'realities of FMEA/FMECA' as seen by Chris Jenman of Global Maritime; 'recurring flaws in DP Class 2 and 3 redundancy concepts' with Steve Cargill, PML; and Knut Morken of Acergy's views on 'an approach to black box testing of critical software systems on DP Class 2 vessels'.
Meanwhile, the diving session will consider 'hyperbaric arrangements on a new build' (Sjur Lothe of Technip); 'experiences from the Sapphire conversion to a DSV' with David Forsyth, Bibby Offshore; and Calum Buchanan, RBG Ltd on 'diving in support of marine operations'.
Another joint session in which 'removal of external steel on the Frigg field by use of ROVs, subsea tools and rope access techniques' (Geir Helge Bachmann, DeepOcean); and 'Installation of external conductor guides on an existing North Sea Platform - a contractors' experience' (Steve Beddows, Technip) paves the way to workshops on 'challenges for FMEAs'; 'vessel security' - discussing the work of the IMCA Security Task Force; 'effecting communications during lifting operations'; and 'challenges for improving the working environment of the diver'.
The small exhibition that runs alongside the seminar features supplier members of IMCA including Divex, Fugro Seastar, Kongsberg Maritime, Nautronix and Veripos and enables delegates to learn more about the latest technological developments and range of products and services on offer.
