مقاله سال ۲۰۱۷

 مجله امگا – Omega

The Arctic region is estimated to contain 22% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources [22]. This makes the northern regions attractive for the petroleum industry, and is one of the reasons why activity at sea in the northern areas of Norway is expected to see an above average increase .

There are considerable gaps in today’s emergency preparedness system of this region. A report by SARiNOR, a project to define future preparedness solutions in Northern Norway [9], points out that there is not enough private or public sector capacity to handle major accidents at sea that involve 20 or more persons in distress. To get drilling licenses, operators have to show that they are able to operate safely, and in a self-reliant manner, i.e. they cannot rely on public preparedness services. Furthermore, their preparedness system should be able to handle even large scale incidents. To have offshore preparedness in place can be understood as a ticket-to-trade for anyone who wants to operate in this area, and to date, this ticket comes at a high price. This is why the petroleum industry has to find innovative solutions that ensure safety while keeping costs at an economically feasible level.

One of the major issues of future operations in this area is the safe transportation of personnel. In Norway, air transport by helicopter is the main mode to bring personnel to offshore installations and back. However, this mode represents one of the major hazards for offshore personnel [26]. In the UK, eight accidents in the past 30 years resulted in 110 fatalities [18]. Five accidents with 12 fatalities were recorded in Norway during the period of 1990–۲۰۰۹ [۴].