SAFETY ALERT NO. 204:
|
||
Country: AUSTRALIA | ||
Location: OFFSHORE : Specialist vessel eg diving, construction, survey | ||
Release Date: — | Time incident occurred: — | |
Type of Activity: Construction, hook-up, commissioning | ||
Type of Injury: null | Function: Construction | |
Applicabale Filter Categories: Weather related | ||
|
||
Recently, a construction vessel was unable to avoid a cyclone because the operator failed to initiate preparations to retrieve anchors and evacuate its location in a timely manner. A tropical low formed 250 nautical miles from the location of the vessel and, inconsistent with the predicted forecast track, approached the vessel. The weather deteriorated and the high winds and seas halted operations to retrieve the anchors, attach tow lines and tow the vessel away from its location to avoid the course of the tropical low which formed into a cyclone. The vessel weathered the storm until its final anchor parted, at which point the vessel was able to make way under its own limited capability to a safe location. Fortunately no one was injured during the incident, although had the cyclone intensified in strength, the outcome could well have been more serious. The incident took place in the Timor Sea, an area sometimes known as the cyclone “nursery” because cyclones typically form there from tropical low pressure systems before heading toward the North West Shelf. On the North West Shelf, sometimes known as cyclone “alley,” it is typically easier to predict the track of cyclones than in the Timor Sea, as they are already established by the time they get to the North West Shelf. | ||
What Went Wrong?:The factors that contributed to the late decision to evacuate include:
|
||
Corrective actions and Recommendations:
|
||
|
||
Source Contact:
This alert is being distributed via a partnership between the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (http://www.ogp.org.uk/) and NOPSA (http://www.nopsa.gov.au/). For further information email: alerts [at] nopsa.gov.au and quote Alert 28. OGP Safety Incident Reports http://info.ogp.org.uk/safety/ |