Peripheral Survey Sensor Guidelines
The ‘Guidelines for the management of peripheral survey sensors’ (IMCA S 021) have been developed under the direction of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA, UK) Offshore Survey Division management committee. The document provides guidance towards a more standardised approach to the timing of checks, verifications and calibrations, leading to more consistent maintenance practices and potentially better management of survey applications.
In addition to the Executive Summary, the 24-page document includes a glossary and details of terminology used and an introduction.
There is a section devoted to general considerations highlighting five main areas – testing as a function of time, condition or risk; maintenance and testing strategies; the operational environment; record keeping; and risk management. A twelve-page section on survey sensors follows, with the document then devoting two pages to general testing and checks while at sea, and concluding with references and details on further reading.
The requirements for periodical calibrations and verification of offshore survey and navigation-related sensors can sometimes be a sensitive issue, particularly when considering the overall expenditure and time required to undertake offshore survey and inspection activities. Such requirements can be inconsistent and have a wide range of complexity often not well captured in tender and project documentation.
The Peripheral Survey Sensors Guidelines are available for downloading free of charge for members and non-members alike from the IMCA website at www.imca-int.com.
