Canada’s Husky Energy said it will move to suspend operations at its SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading vessel on orders from the Newfoundland and Labrador regulator after a close call with an iceberg in March last year.
Canada’s Husky Energy said it will move to suspend operations at its SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading vessel on orders from the Newfoundland and Labrador regulator after a close call with an iceberg in March last year.
An iceberg entered the 0.25 nautical mile Ice Exclusion Area of the SeaRose FPSO during March 2017, when there were 84 personnel and upwards of 340,000 barrels of crude onboard, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) said in a separate statement.
The incident triggered the board to issue an order for Husky energy to suspend operations, which according to the ice management plan, should’ve disconnected the SeaRose FPSO and sailed away from the threating iceberg.
That action was not taken and personnel were at one point instructed to muster and ‘brace for impact’. Ultimately, the iceberg did not make contact with the SeaRose FPSO or subsea infrastructure, C-NLOPB said.
The SeaRose FPSO is located in the White Rose Field, approximately 350 km east of St. John’s.
“We could have and should have responded differently according to the pre-existing plan, and we will learn from this incident. We will work with the C-NLOPB and take the actions necessary to satisfy the regulator,” said CEO Rob Peabody.
The suspension of operations will take place in a safe, controlled and environmentally prudent manner, while maintaining the integrity of the installation, the company said.
Husky will undertake all steps necessary to comply with the directives of the local petroleum board. A number of measures have already been put in place to further improve ice management operations, it said.
Current production from the SeaRose FPSO is approximately 27,000 barrels of oil per day.
Source: Pipeline ME
