Study of operational characteristics for an all year intervention vessel for the Barents Sea

Interest in oil and gas exploration and production offshore northern Norway is growing. The subsea gas production system at Snøhvit has been in operation since 2007, while oil production from a Sevan type FPSO on the Goliat field will start in 2013. The Skrugard exploration drilling results from 2011 (and Havis from January 2012) shows the potential of the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea as a new oil and gas province. Combining this with the 2010 maritime border delimitation agreement between Norway and Russia, both nations have increased their seismic survey activities in the previously disputed section of the Barents Sea. The harsh environmental conditions, with seasonal ice in the eastern part of the Barents Sea, will probably lead to subsea systems being selected for production. Even though such systems will be installed during the summer season, it must be possible to perform unplanned maintenance and repair operations on the systems on a year-round basis. During the winter, an all-year construction and intervention vessel (CIV) will work together with ice management vessels. These vessels will need to carry the environmental protection preparedness equipment needed to handle an acute oil spill