49
1 INTRODUCTION
Currently, more than a third of the worldʹs oil and
gas production comes from offshore fields. The
exploration, development, construction, production,
logistics,maintenanceanddecommissioningofthese
fieldsarenecessarilymadebymaritimeunits,which
can be vessels or floating platforms. For such
operations to occur, the
provision of appropriate
maritime information, including the positioning of
subseaandsurfaceassets,becomesessential(Cainet
al.2008).
Offshore operations are planned and monitored
by ashore teams and are performed by onboard
professionals. The ashore teams have a wide
infrastructurethatincludesbroadbandnetworksand
directmultidisciplinarysupport.The
onboardteams
have limited telecommunications and due to space
limitations, they must rely on experts in key
disciplines only. This highlights technicians and
coordinators in lead offshore specialties as well as
deck officers dealing with vessels positioning and
navigation.
Figure1.Ashoreteam,OffshorespecialistandDeckofficer.
Over the past decades, offshore companies have
been developing or incorporating several
applications and spatial information systems for
ashoreandoffshoreactivities.Duetothecompetitive
Bridging IMO e-Navigation Policy and Offshore Oil and
Gas Operations through Geospatial Standards
F.Modesto
FluminenseFederalUniversity,RiodasOstras,Brazil&PETROBRAS,Macae,Brazil
C.Bazilio&L.Weitzel
FluminenseFederalUniversity,RiodasOstras,Brazil
J
.Carballini
CARIS,Fredericton,Canada
D.Peyton
IICTechnologies,NorthVancouver,Canada
ABSTRACT: In offshoreindustry activities, the suitable onboard provisionofassets locationandgeospatial
marine information during operations is essential. Currently, most companies use its own data structures,
resultinginincompatibility between processes. In order to promote the data exchange, oil and gas industry
associations have
pursued initiatives to standardize spatial information. In turn, the IMO‐International
Maritime Organization‐started the implementation of e‐Navigation policy, which is the standardization of
technologiesandprotocolsappliedtomaritimeinformationandnavigation.
Thispapershowsrelationshipandintegrationpointsbetweenmaritimeactivitiesofoilandgasindustryand
e‐
Navigationtechnologiesandprocesses,highlightinggeospatialinformation.This paperalsopreludes outan
initiativeforasuitableproductspecificationfortheoffshoreoilandgasindustry,compliantwithe‐Navigation
andIHOS‐100internationalstandards.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 10
Number 1
March 2016
DOI:10.12716/1001.10.01.05
50
nature of these services and the diversity of
operational specialties, each of these systems has
beendevelopedusingdifferentspatialdataconcepts
and schemas. Ashore planning and control systems
aregenerallybasedonGIS(GeographicInformation
System) architecture, allowing for complex spatial
analysis, but requiring professionals with
intermediate or advanced
knowledge of geomatics
(McLay 2000). Offshore specialty systems dealing
with spatial information are generally limited to
visualqueriesor measurements and in a few cases,
dataentry;butontheotherhand,theuserisrequired
to merely have a basic knowledge of geomatics
(Shukla&Karki2016).
Unlikeoffshore
specialties,theIMO(International
Maritime Organization), the United Nations agency
for maritime affairs, internationally standardizes
navigationsystems,whichessentiallyusethespatial
information. In 2006, the IMO initiated the e‐
Navigation policy, which includes resolutions,
technologies and harmonized protocols for the
provision of maritime information. However, the e‐
Navigation concept is
designed primarily for
merchant shipping and passenger transport and to
thisdaydoesnotaddressthepeculiaritiesofoffshore
activities(IMO2007).
As a result of this diversity, the information
exchange between planning, execution and offshore
navigation is limited, most often making use of
pictures, printed maps, vectorial files without
aggregated information and lists of coordinates. In
result,therestrictionsonsharingspatialinformation
inevitably bring about an operational inefficiency.
Whenitcomestospatialdatainaregionwithseveral
maritimeunits,subseafacilities,underwatervehicles
and the production of oil or gas, any mistake may
result in an accident
of huge proportions
(Koppaetzky2013).
This paper shows the use of spatial information
on offshore oil and gas operations, existing spatial
data frameworks and the e‐Navigation policy. This
paperalsoshowsintegrationpointsbetweenoffshore
operations and e‐Navigation policy, including the
useofitsindicateddataframework,the
IHOS‐100.
2 OFFSHOREOPERATIONS,SPATIAL
INFORMATIONANDE‐NAVIGATION
2.1 OffshoreOperationsandSpatialNeeds
The offshore industry, especially at oil and gas
production, requires a range of operations to be
performed by platforms or vessels. Production
platformsarestationary and donotusually execute
processes that require spatial
information, while
vessels and drilling rigs inevitably require spatial
data.Toperformtheoffshoreactivities,mostofthese
vessels use DP (Dynamic Positioning), which is a
system that automatically controls the position and
heading of a vessel by means of active propulsion,
andotherdevicesthatdealwithspatialdata
(Siietal.
2006).
In addition, the accuracy positioning of offshore
activities is important with respect to national and
international maritime boundaries and oil and gas
lease allocation. Knowledge of the geospatial
boundariesoftheseinterestsareinstrumentalinthe
final positioning of production platforms (ACLS &
CHA2006).
The following
is a brief description of the main
offshoreoperationsgroupsandtheirsensitivespatial
informationforonboardteams:
2.1.1 SupplyandOffload
Supply are shipping operations of supplies
among platforms and shore ports. Offload are
shipping operations for gathering the oil produced
on platforms. The monitoring of distances between
vessels
and platforms is essential. The spatialized
awarenessofsafetyzonesaswellascranesreach,DP
(Dynamic Positioning) reference devices and hose
connectors increases the safety of these operations
(GOMO2013a).
2.1.2 Rig‐moveandanchoring
Operation of platform towage and placement by
vessels, including the handling, launching and
recoveryof
platformanchors.Thespatialknowledge
of local subsea infrastructure and anchor launch
points is essential. The monitoring of the exact
positionofallvesselsinvolved,theplatformandits
connections,significantlyincreasesthesafetyofthese
operations(GOMO2013b).
2.1.3 Survey
Operations for mapping or gathering samples
from the seabed,
sub‐seabed or water. The spatial
information is the product of these operations. The
monitoring of sensors for exact positioning is
essential.Priorknowledgeofsubseainfrastructureis
important. In geophysical mapping operations, it is
important for the safety of navigation to broadcast
themappingplanareatonearbyvessels(IOGP
2013).
2.1.4 SubseaEngineering Operations
Operations dealing with pipelines, subsea
equipment or other devices, using unmanned
vehicles or human diving support. The spatial
knowledge of subsea infrastructure and the exact
monitoring of underwater vehicles, as well as the
devices during their installation is essential (Bai &
Bai2010).Themain
subseaoperationsare:
Installationorremovalofpipelinesandcables;
Installationorremovalofsubseaequipment;
Subseainspection,maintenanceorrepair.
2.1.5 Subseawellsconstruction
Theseoperations,includingdrillingandintervention,
are performed by platforms known as drilling rigs
that as per international norms are considered
equivalent to
vessels (IMO 2009). The spatial
knowledge of seabed and subsea infrastructure
increases these operations safety. For DP rigs,
accurate monitoring and permanence of their
position relative to the well location is a necessity
(Chenetal.2008).