Seacroft develops tool to prevent collisions between offshore installations & vessels

Aberdeen-based Seacroft Marine has launched ‘SafeZone 500’, a suite of procedures, training, workplace mentoring and audit tools which manage and mitigate the risk of collisions between offshore installations and their attending supply vessels.

According to the company, the SafeZone 500 was developed in response to heightened industry recognition of – and Health & Safety Executive (HSE) focus on – the hazards of operating vessels in close proximity to offshore oil and gas installations. Changing weather, equipment serviceability and, significantly, human factors all combine to create a real risk of collision which requires to be proactively managed, Seacroft explained.

Seacroft Marine Consultants Limited has a 20-year track record of developing marine operating procedures for the North Sea industry. The company identified an opportunity to deliver an offering to clients by distilling the combination of regulation and best practice into a set of procedures which could be applied to any offshore installation and its attending support vessels.

The resulting program, SafeZone 500, imposes a set of procedures, check lists and communications protocols which asserts the installation’s positive control over the vessel’s movements and confirms that, at all stages, relevant checks have been completed and procedures complied with and that risks are managed fully in line with HSE ALARP principles.

“Operating companies can choose to develop their own bespoke solutions, but that is costly,” says Michael Cowlam, technical director of Seacroft Marine Consultants.

Seacroft added that the principles of SafeZone 500 have already been adopted by several North Sea operating companies and the associated training delivered to almost 600 key personnel on board installations and vessels across the sector.

Adoption and compliance with SafeZone 500 principles have also been used by two operating companies to secure closure of two HSE enforcement notices regarding sufficiency of control over vessels in the 500m exclusion zone.