Regulator finds improvement points during Martin Linge FSO audit

Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found one non-conformity and four improvement points during an audit of the Total-operated Martin Linge FSO project.

The audit of Total E&P Norge AS and Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (KNOT)’s management of the working environment, emergency preparedness, and materials handling in the Martin Linge FSO project was done from August 8 to August 10.

According to the PSA, the objective of the audit was to verify that Total’s management of the working environment, emergency preparedness and materials handling during the conversion of MT Hanne Knutsen into the Martin Linge FSO was in compliance with regulatory requirements.

The second objective was to assess the company’s follow-up and completion with regard to the quality assurance system, quality in the transfer of information to operations in respect of maintenance access and materials handling, and documentary requirements for completion.

The PSA said on Wednesday that the identified non-conformity was linked to the arrangement of and access to an offshore crane.

Also, the offshore regulator found four improvement points regarding non-conformity handling, actions following working environment activities, exposure to working environment factors, and hydrocarbon exposure.

The PSA told Total E&P Norge to report on how the non-conformity and improvement points would be addressed by October 30 at the latest.

The Martin Linge oil and gas field is located in the North Sea approximately 180 kilometers west of Bergen, Norway. The field is being developed with a fixed fully integrated production platform supported on a steel jacket, and a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit for oil storage.