Arctic technology. Also inside: Barents 2020, Beluga Shipping, Climate change, New petroleum development
Date: 05 July 2010
History of Arctic technology at DNV
This issue of Arctic Update provides a fascinating glimpse into DNV’s experience record in the field of Arctic Technology from the 1800s to the present day.
Barents 2020
Assessment of International Standards for the Safe Exploration, Production and Transportation of Oil and Gas in the Barents Sea.
Polar Class Requirements for Machinery
During 2009, DNV carried out a considerable amount of work to make the Polar Class Machinery requirements more user friendly and correct misprints and errors in the first revision of the rules published in 2008.
Pipelines in the Arctic
With current demand for hydrocarbons the undeveloped resources in Arctic regions shall become an increasingly economic development opportunity. However, there are numerous new technical and operational challenges which are required to be overcome to achieve safe and robust operation of offshore pipelines in Arctic regions.
Beluga Shipping masters first commercial transit of the Northeast-Passage
History was written in global merchant shipping during August and September 2009 when two multipurpose heavy lift project carriers under the flag of Beluga Shipping GmbH mastered the premiere in the commercial transit of the legendary Northeast-Passage from Asia to Europe.
Marine Operations in the Arctic
Although it has some experience of marine operations in the Arctic, the oil & gas industry does not have any standard for managing the risks involved. In order to prepare the industry for such marine operations and ensure that they are performed within defined and recognised safety levels, DNV is initiating a new Joint Industry Project.
Practical Arctic Technology Course
In cooperation with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU) and the University Centre at Svalbard (UNIS), DNV arranged the second Practical Arctic Technology Course this spring. The course was held in the Bay of Bothnia and Svalbard from 9-18 April 2010.
The Arctic - the world's next petroleum province
Attention has turned to the Arctic as the most promising area for new petroleum development. Feeding this enthusiasm are estimates from the US Geological Survey's Circum-Arctic Oil and Gas Resource Appraisal.
Escape, evacuation and rescue operations in the Barents Sea
Work Group 4 for the Barents2020 Project has identified a need for change in existing maritime and offshore oil and gas standards for escape, evacuation and rescue (EER) operations in the Barents Sea, and has proposed recommended changes in the standards.
ICESTRUCT
In 2008, the US Geological Survey completed an assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in all areas north of the Arctic Circle.
Climate change and the Arctic, technical aspects
The Arctic is experiencing some of the most rapid climate changes on earth. On average, the temperature has risen at approximately twice the rate of the rest of the world. Melting glaciers, reductions in the extent and thickness of sea ice, thawing permafrost and rising sea levels are indications of recent warming of the region.
The Centre for High North Logistics
The Centre for High North Logistics (CHNL) is an international non-profit foundation whose vision is to be the preferred knowledge network for creating and developing efficient and sustainable logistical solutions for the High North.
Polar Bear Basics
The polar bear, Ursus maritimus, or the sea bear, evolved about 200,000 years ago from brown bear ancestors. They are superbly adapted for survival in the Far North.
Arctic shipping impact
Several studies are addressing the possible extent and impacts of increasing shipping and other activities in the Arctic as a result of reduced ice cover in the Arctic and increasing globalization in the Arctic. The most extensive one so far is probably the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) under the auspices of the Arctic Council (www.pame.is/amsa). The AMSA 2009 Report is focused on current and future Arctic marine activity.
Key findings of the AMSA study
“Current Marine Use and the AMSA Shipping Database: Nearly all shipping in Arctic today is destinational, conducted for community re-supply, marine tourism and moving natural resources out of the Arctic. Regions of high concentrations of Arctic marine activity occur along the coasts of northwest Russia, and in the ice-free waters off Norway, Greenland, Iceland and in the U.S. Arctic. Significant increases in cruise ships, a majority not purpose-built for Arctic waters, have been observed in the summer season around Greenland within the past decade.
A three-year fight against the ice
Polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen has a daring idea: he will allow his ship, Fram, to become frozen in the Arctic ice and let the ocean current take him to the North Pole.