Statoil gets the big picture on safety
Rather than drowning in paperwork and incrementally developed regulations and inspection schemes, Norwegian oil company Statoil decided on a clean slate. Using a new and comprehensive methodology co-developed with DNV, Statoil assessed the overall technical safety of all its installations, both onshore and offshore.
Quality and Integrity
As the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of DNV, Miklos Konkoly-Thege has clear goals. ‘It is our vision that by supporting our customers in their efforts to improve quality, safety and environmental performance, we can also enable them to realise their business objectives in general.
Setting the benchmark for industry
Says Gunnar Berge, head of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD): ‘Such a safety assessment is exactly the kind of approach we want the oil companies to take on these issues. The methods used are well suited to address the need for information about overall technical safety. In particular the NPD appreciates the way they provide knowledge about the safety levels on ageing platforms.
A matter of integrity at Conoco
Conoco has topped the American Petroleum Institute (API) annual safety survey for the fifth year in a row. The company’s plant and personnel safety record comes from high leadership expectations, clear responsibilities and good tools. Conoco management recognise that being world-class in process safety is also essential for successful business.
Petrobras charts new deepwater course
Last autumn Petrobras established its Operational Excellence Programme (PEO) to address offshore operational and safety performance. Moving forcefully on comprehensive safety measures, the Brazilian oil major is improving current operations while preparing for deeper waters.
Transpetro primes Brazil’s gas pump
As Brazil tries to overcome power shortages, pressure is being placed on the country’s gas pipeline grid. Transpetro is preparing for imminent change in the energy supply picture.
Finding right formula for US Gulf FPSO
Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels are in demand. They are cost-efficient, movable and can operate in all conditions. Aker Kvaerner’s Maritime Tentech is ready with an FPSO design for the emerging market in the Gulf of Mexico.
After Erika...
In our forum discussing important issues facing the maritime industry, Fotis Karamitsos, director of Maritime Transport in the EU Commission, and Jan Kopernicki, Vice President of Shell Shipping, give their views on the driving forces and effects of some of the legislative proposals drawn up by the EC – proposals that vitally concern a wide cross-section of the maritime industry.
a new era for maritime safety
Do the European Commission proposals bring any good news for the shipping industry? Or is this a package of add-ons to a maritime safety regime that is better at establishing more procedures, paperwork and governing bodies than targeting the increasing problem of sub-standard shipping?
A catalyst for progress
As shipping vice president of Shell Trading and chairman of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), Jan Kopernicki is well qualified to assess the EU Commission’s legislative proposals. He insists that ‘It is not a simple black and white case between the good guys and the bad guys – far from it. What we have is a successful intervention by the EC which has resulted in the international discussion moving on far more quickly.’ Holder of one of the most influential posts in shipping, Jan Kopernicki put his views to DNV Forum in London in mid-July.
Germans box clever in containership business
One of the most notable success stories in the development of the containership market has been the role played by Erck Rickmers, chairman and chief executive officer of Nordcapital and of E.R Schiffahrt GmbH & Cie KG (both located in Hamburg) in the creation of new shipping and shipping-related ventures. He has continued a family tradition that stretches back five generations.
Hoisting the quality sails
Sights set on expanding its business as a technical operator, Lisbon-based Marenostrum now manages five oil tankers and a chemical carrier. Central to the company’s expansion plans is its focus on quality systems to satisfy the most stringent flag and port state requirements and class rules and regulations.
Nauticus Construction
DNV’s Nauticus Construction is an IT application which combines Nauticus 3D hull block models of the newbuilding with easy-to-use templates for detailed project control. The hull block models enable the site inspection team to be better prepared, and the various templates linked to the models represent a single point for storing all essential project information.
Cancer centre takes green lead
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center works to make cancer history. At the hospital, known for its holistic approach to cancer care, a newly certified environmental management system is seen as one way to further its mission.
Lucent eco-friendly telephony technology
To minimise environmental impacts from its base stations for mobile phone networks, Lucent Technologies Mobility Solutions Group has implemented a greener design process with the help of a DNV-certified ISO 14001 environmental management system focused on hardware product impacts.
Human factors are vital to safety
While systematic work on safe design, efficient production and other hardware issues have long been given the attention they deserve, human factors and organisational structures have not yet been exploited to their full potential. Gunnar Berge, director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate now demands that operators in the Nort Sea demonstrate a safety culture.