Safety body spots irregularities during Martin Linge FSO audit

Norwegian offshore safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found irregularities during an audit of Equinor’s Martin Linge B floating storage and offloading unit.

PSA said on Monday that the audit was conducted on July 25, 2018. According to the offshore safety body, the audit is a part of a follow-up of the development project for the Martin Linge field.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the requirements for materials handling, cranes and lifting on Martin Linge B were being met during the conversion of and operational preparations for the facility.

The PSA added that the audit detected non-conformities in the areas of procedures for cranes and lifting operations, completion of cranes, and training.

The safety watchdog told Equinor to report on how the non-conformities would be addressed by September 3, 2018.

Martin Linge

Martin Linge is an oil and gas field west of the Oseberg field in the North Sea. The field development concept includes an integrated wellhead, production, and accommodation platform with a jacket, in addition to an oil storage vessel.

When the field comes on stream, the gas will flow through a new pipeline connecting the field to the existing pipeline to St. Fergus in Scotland. The oil will be processed on the storage vessel and transported from the field in shuttle tankers. The current operator expects the start of production in the first half of 2019.

As for Martin Linge B, it is a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) which was renamed following the conversion of the MT Hanne Knutsen vessel. Equinor is leasing Martin Linge B from Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (KNOT), which is also operating the facility.