On hand to avert offshore project delays

2009-09-24

Delays in newbuild projects for the offshore industry inevitably result in huge financial losses. DNV has noticed a steep increase in project delays in recent years and decided to investigate the phenomenon at several yards. “This is increasingly a challenge for the whole industry,” says Carl Arne Carlsen, head of Offshore Classification in DNV.

What factors have led to an increase in project delays?
Most of the delays in deliveries from shipyards of complex drilling or production units are caused during the commissioning activities at the yard. Systems are not mechanically complete before systems are offered for commissioning. This results in several tests and retests. The philosophy behind how shut down systems are supposed to function are not clearly defined and results in many design queries during commissioning to clarify the thought process behind cause and effect testing.

What are the major differences between the factors causing project delays in offshore and shipping projects?
Many ships are relatively simple in design and the systems have been used for many years, most of the major systems are ‘plug and play’ which in simple terms means the vendor supplies the equipment, the yard installs it switches it on and it works. However, for an offshore project each system may have several vendors. All the vendors supply the various components for the systems and the yard ties them all together. This integration is very complicated as you may have several different types of software that have to ‘talk’ to each other and work together. This is a very sophisticated and complex matter which is often underestimated.

What are the most significant challenges during the commissioning process?
Understanding the critical path, what system needs to be completed before testing of systems can commence and in what order to prevent testing having to be carried out several times. Also it is important that the correct sequence is followed, for example that there are good philosophies followed by good design and good commissioning procedures. It is also important that the same people from the design department and the owner are involved in the development of the philosophies, design and commissioning procedures. This will allow continuity throughout all phases of the project.

What can an owner do to resolve problems during commissioning?
Again, the best solution we have seen is that the same person who is involved in design and review or indeed writing of philosophies, is involved in the commissioning. We have seen that the owners engineering manager is involved in writing philosophies or putting them into the specification given to the yard, then s/he reviews the design. After completion of engineering activities s/he then switches role and becomes commissioning manager and reviews procedures and oversees commissioning activities. This ensures very good knowledge transfer throughout the project.

What can the yard do to resolve problems during commissioning?
The best practice is to have someone responsible for the integration process that can ensure that the critical path is followed and that systems are mechanically complete before commissioning commences. In fact - the safety level will be raised as the overall quality in the integration process is improved. So it is advisable to employ people with operational experience who can run commissioning programmes on behalf of the yard. DNV is developing a recommended practice to spell out best practices and classification and statutory requirements for commissioning activities to help the industry get a better understanding of commissioning requirements.

DNV