OWC Carries Out Milestone Leg Penetration Assessment

Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC), with sister company AqualisBraemar, has completed its 1,000th leg penetration assessment (LPA), which is conducted before deploying jack-up vessels at a project.

LPA is an analytical study of soil conditions to predict the anticipated leg penetrations and potential risks to jack-up vessels during their offshore deployment, mainly based on the ground conditions at the project site.

According to OWC, LPA is a tool for jack-up owners and field operators to work out the installation plan, and is an important part of the site-specific assessment to understand the structural integrity and capability for vessels installed at specific sites.

“The significance of 1,000 LPAs is more than just a number, it is something wind farm developers can benefit from in many ways,” said Zheming Li, Principal Consultant at OWC.

“Based on the corresponding installation record data, OWC has developed an extensive database and in-depth knowledge on leg penetration predictions at different sites with challenging ground conditions. This allows us to repeatedly optimise LPA services to provide high-quality prediction and to mitigate relevant risks effectively.”

OWC emphasized that a wrong leg penetration analysis could have serious consequences, such as structural failures, instability or leg damages to the jack-up unit, and could even lead to personnel injuries or fatalities.

From a commercial perspective, a wrong LPA could have a detrimental impact on project schedule due to delayed jack-up deployment as a result of unexpected installation difficulties, the company concluded.