Upgraded lifeboats for offshore operations
Nine lifeboats presently operating in the Ekofisk oil field are to be refurbished by Schat-Harding.
This oilfield was discovered in 1969 and still remains one of the most important in the area, but the industry has had its share of incidents which have driven safety concerns to the forefront in Norwegian oil and gas activities. This has, in turn, meant a fast pace in safety developments.
The boats, all in use on platforms in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, will be upgraded to meet current regulations and standards with regards to stability. The boats will also be refitted with modern Schat-Harding LHR6 stainless steel on-load release hooks, which, the company says, is the safest on-load release hook in production.
The lifeboats are MCR28 and MCR30 conventional davit launched types, built by Harding Safety in the 1980s. One by one, they will be transported to Schat-Harding’s Seimfoss factory for the upgrades, which started in March this year with the aim of all being completed in a period of some 40 weeks.
Michael Roessland, manager of Schat-Harding’s service department in Norway said, ‘Boat and hook design has moved on quickly in recent years, and standards have been made more stringent.’ He added that the process of going back to the original equipment manufacturer has certain advantages, besides continuity of design updates and certification, the operators also get ongoing support.
