The upstream offshore multi-phase well-pipeline-riser installations are facing huge challenges related to slugging flow: An unstable flow regime where the flow rates, pressures and temperatures oscillate in the multi-phase pipelines. One typical severe slug is induced by vertical wells or risers causing the pressure to build up and hence originates the oscillating pressure and flow. There exist many negative consequences related to the severe slugging flow and thus lots of investments and effort have been put into reducing or completely eliminating the severe slug. This paper reviews in detail the state-of-the-art related to analysis, detection, dynamical modeling and elimination of the slug within the offshore oil & gas Exploration and Production (E&P) processes. Modeling of slugging flow has been used to investigate the slug characteristics and for design of anti-slug control as well, however most models require specific facility and operating data which, unfortunately, often is not available from most offshore installations. Anti-slug control has been investigated for several decades in the oil & gas industry, but many of these existing methods suffer the consequent risk of simultaneously reducing the oil & gas production. This paper concludes that slug is a well defined phenomenon, but even though it has been investigated for several decades the current anti-slug control methods still have problems related to robustness. It is predicted that slug-induced challenges will be even more severe as a consequence of the longer vertical risers caused by deep-water E&P in the future.
Ship collision with offshore installations is one of the key concerns in design and assess of platforms performance and safety. This paper presents an analysis on collision energy and structural damage in ship and offshore platform collisions for various collision scenarios. The platform or rig is treated as either rigid or flexible and its sensitivity on collision energy and structural damage is studied. An application example where an ice-strengthened supply vessel collides against a jack-up rig is analysed and the crushing resistance of the involved thin-walled structures is evaluated.
Irregular migration by sea leads states such as Italy and Australia to conduct maritime rescue operations involving refugees and other migrants. During these operations, states must deal with the question of where to disembark survivors. The law of the sea regime obliges states to ensure survivors are delivered to a 'place of safety', arguably requiring maritime officers to merely consider the physical safety of survivors immediately on disembarkation. Non-binding International Maritime Organization guidelines state that the need to avoid disembarking refugees and asylum-seekers in the states of departure or origin is also a consideration. The guidelines refer to other 'relevant' international law, including treaties dealing with 'refugee refoulement' or refoulement in connection with a risk of torture. Under the international human rights law regime, including international refugee law, states' obligations in relation to non-refoulement are broader and prohibit the return of refugees and migrants to states where they directly or indirectly face persecution, torture or other serious harm. In interpreting 'place of safety', this work argues that there is insufficient consensus to integrate the two legal regimes. Nevertheless, states can be under co-existing human rights obligations that place limits on the disembarkation of rescued refugees and migrants.
Background: Medical evacuations (MEDEVACs) from offshore installations are both costly and disruptive. Enhancing worker well-being may help reduce evacuations due to illness or injury, thereby maintaining the smooth operation of offshore activities and lowering financial burdens.
Objectives: This scoping review aims to identify whether illness or injury is the predominant cause of MEDEVACs from offshore oil and gas installations and to determine the most common types of illnesses or injuries involved. Additionally, the review outlines a future research agenda focusing on offshore worker health and well-being.
Materials and methods: A comprehensive structured search was conducted across the Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, as well as through reference lists and grey
literature. Studies were included if they addressed MEDEVACs from offshore oil and gas installations. Eleven articles met the inclusion criteria.
Results: Articles indicate that non-occupational illnesses are more frequent causes of MEDEVACs than injuries. Among these, chest pain, cardiovascular issues, and dental problems were disproportionately represented. Contractor personnel were more likely to require evacuation than company employees. Additionally, younger workers were more likely to be evacuated due to injuries. Chronic health conditions were more common reasons for MEDEVACs among older workers. The review highlights the significant role of non-communicable diseases in contributing to MEDEVACs, as opposed to occupational exposures.
Conclusions: Investing in preventive health management, targeted research, and workforce education may substantially reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the offshore environment, lowering MEDEVAC rates, associated costs, and operational disruptions. Further investigation into the underlying causes of ill health among offshore workers is needed to enhance overall workforce well-being.
Background
The transfer of offshore wind farm workers between transport vessels and wind turbines is a hazardous operation with a disproportionately high occurrence of "high potential" incidents. Motion sickness has been reported to affect offshore wind farm worker well-being, and has been identified as a job demand, especially during crew transfer and ladder-climbing operations.
This scoping review sought to determine the extent to which current research defines, describes, and quantifies MS among offshore wind farm workers and to identify relevant research gaps.
Methods
Using terms related to motion sickness and offshore wind farm operations, searches were conducted of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Studies published in English between 1990 and 2024 were included.
Results
795 articles were retrieved, of which 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. The included articles describe MS as a job demand but do not clearly define it in the research context. Consequently, it remains unclear which symptoms of MS constitute a job demand and how workers are affected. Additionally, indications of motion sickness prevalence are required, using a clear definition which accounts for the wide range of subjective symptoms other than vomiting.
No research appears to have been carried out where motion sickness among wind farm workers has been studied as a broad occupational health issue within the offshore wind energy sector.
Conclusions
This review identifies significant research gaps concerning motion sickness among offshore wind farm workers. Motion sickness-related issues have either been overlooked, studied in isolation, or insufficiently addressed. These issues constitute empirical, methodological, and knowledge gaps, necessitating a need for systematic studies that address these research gaps in the context of the offshore wind energy sector.
A serious ship-bridge collision accident happens about once a year. These accidents cause fatalities and large economic losses due to loss of transportation service and replacement cost of the bridge structure. One of the most recent, widely published, ship-bridge collisions was the collision where the containership Dali in 2024 collided with the Baltimore Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore. The resulting collapse of the bridge girder caused six fatalities as well as large financial losses. One effect of this event has been that engineers around the world now are being engaged in evaluation of the vulnerability of existing bridges and establishment of rational design criteria for new bridges.
The presentation will outline elements of a rational design procedure for bridge structures against ship collision impacts. A set of risk acceptance criteria will be proposed and a mathematically based procedure for calculation of the probability of ship collision accidents caused by human as well as technical errors will be presented. This first part of the presentation leads to identification of the largest striking ship, “design vessel”, a given bridge element must withstand without structural failure in order for the bridge connection to fulfil the risk acceptance criteria.
The final part of the presentation will be devoted to an analysis of the needed impact capacity for the bridge pylons and piers exposed to ship bow impact loads from design vessels. A procedure will be described for derivation of expressions for ship bow crushing forces, which can be used in design against ship collision impacts. The resulting collision force expressions are verified by comparison with large-scale laboratory experiments and an analysis of a fullscale shipping accident. Finally, the proposed impact force expressions will be compared with existing standards for modelling ship collisions against bridges as published by AASHTO, IABSE and Eurocode.
Slugging flow in offshore oil & gas multi-phase transportation pipelines cause big challenges as the flow regime induces flow and pressure oscillations in the multi-phase pipelines. The negative impacts of the most severe slugs are significant and thus the elimination of slugging flow in the pipelines is a highly investigated topic. To eliminate the slug in an online manner real-time slug detection methods are often required. Traditionally topside pressure transmitters upstream of a 3-phase separator have been used as the controlled variable. In this paper Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) has been examined as an alternative to the traditional pressure transmitters. A lab-scaled testing facility has been constructed in order to obtain test data from an ERT transmitter with 12 probes. Different flow regimes have been generated by a pump and a compressor where 2-phase flow can be tested. Based on the results, the study concludes that the ERT is able to detect the slug very well when the oil and water are well mixed. Furthermore, the traditional pressure transmitters have the limitation that pressure variations can be caused by other operating conditions than slug, such as change in the back pressure from control valves. The biggest limitation using ERT is the lack of ability to distinguish between gas and oil, and thus the ERT can only be used as an effective slug detect measurement when the oil-to-water ratio is low.
Background: Evidence on workplace safety and health promotion interventions shows that the interventions have failed to demonstrate substantial benefits for seafarers. It is therefore important to explore what is the evidence of interventions with empowering elements regarding seafarers’ safety and health. This study aims to examine what is known about health promotion interventions in a maritime setting and whether they include an empowerment perspective. And secondly, what were the effects of these efforts. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed and NLM Gateway (for MEDLINE), Institute of Scientific Information/Web of Science (ISI/WOS), and SCOPUS up to July 2022 by using standard keywords including empowerment in the maritime setting. Data extraction was done by three independent reviewers. The quality of included studies was assessed by using the critical appraisal checklists from Joanna Briggs institute. Results: From 3313 studies initially identified, 10 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Interventions covered a wide range of topics such as educational interventions on safety, first aid training, weight management, healthy eating, sexual harassment, alcohol abuse, and cancer prevention training. None of the studies applied a specific theory or definitions of empowerment even though their aim was to increase seafarers’ empowerment in these areas. Conclusion: The studies focused on improving the safety and health status of the seafarers, however, they had no explicit focus on participation and empowerment. Increasing research with an empowerment approach in maritime sector is recommended to enhance the feasibility and success of the programs in this hard-to-reach occupation. Systematic review registration number in PROSPERO: CRD42021260098.
Background: Evidence on workplace safety and health promotion interventions shows that the
interventions have failed to demonstrate substantial benefits for seafarers. It is therefore important to explore what is the evidence of interventions with empowering elements regarding seafarers’ safety and health. This study aims to examine what is known about health promotion interventions in a maritime setting and whether they include an empowerment perspective. And secondly, what were the effects of these efforts. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed and NLM Gateway (for MEDLINE), Institute of Scientific Information/Web of Science (ISI/WOS), and SCOPUS up to July 2022 by using standard keywords including empowerment in the maritime setting. Data extraction was done by three independent reviewers. The quality of included studies was assessed by using the critical appraisal checklists from Joanna Briggs institute. Results: From 3313 studies initially identified, 10 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Interventions covered a wide range of topics such as educational interventions on safety, first aid training, weight management, healthy eating, sexual harassment, alcohol abuse, and cancer prevention training. None of the studies applied a specific theory or definitions of empowerment
even though their aim was to increase seafarers’ empowerment in these areas. Conclusion: The studies focused on improving the safety and health status of the seafarers, however, they had no explicit focus on participation and empowerment. Increasing research with an empowerment approach in maritime sector is recommended to enhance the feasibility and
success of the programs in this hard-to-reach occupation.
Ship collision and grounding events constitute a major hazard for ship operations, and ship collision risk analyses have to be carried out for installations such as offshore structures for extraction of hydrocarbons, offshore wind farms, and bridges spanning waterways. This book provides assessment procedures for ship collision and grounding analysis and includes probabilistic methods for collision and grounding risk assessment, estimation of the energy released during collisions, and prediction of the extent of damage on the involved structures.
The main feature of the book is that it encapsulates reliable and fast analysis methods for collision and grounding assessment and the methods have been extensively validated with experimental and numerical results. In addition, all the described analysis methods include realistic calculation examples so as to provide confidence in their use to eventually conduct the required assessment according to the rules and design codes. The book is intended as a handbook for professionals and researchers in the industry dealing with design and analysis of ships and offshore structures. The book can also be used as a text book for postgraduate courses orientated towards the design and analysis of ship and offshore structures.