Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority announced its decision to investigate an incident involving a dropped object on the Åsgard B facility on 13 March 2019. The incident occurred while dismounting a trolley from a lifting beam on the main deck of the semi-submersible gas platform in the Norwegian Sea.
Norway proposed to add 90 new blocks across the Norwegian Continental Shelf in mature areas, 48 of these being in the Barents Sea. The proposed areas concerning the extension, include areas that are close to planned and existing infrastructure, and which are well known after several years of exploration activity.
The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) conducted an investigation into an incident involving dropped objects on the Maersk Invincible drilling rig. The investigation resulted to failure of the locking mechanism in the latches on the fingerboard to operate as intended, in combination with strong wind.
The ethics watchdog of Norway’s $1-trillion sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, will focus this year on Indian shipbreaking, which is known for unsafe working practices putting lives at risk and polluting the environment. The fund’s Council of Ethics checks that companies the fund invests in meet these ethical standards.
Wärtsilä has been given Notice to Proceed for a Liquid biogas (bioLNG) plant to be built in Asker, Norway. The contract for the plant was given in April 2018 by VEAS, a Norwegian wastewater treatment and biogas producing company, and the Notice to Proceed was signed in December 2018. The plant is expected to start operation during 2020.
On 24 January 2019, PSA Norway conducted an audit of Equinor and its management of safety systems and the electrical facilities on the Johan Sverdrup living quarters platform. The audit identified two improvement points regarding deficiencies in the storage of safety equipment for switchrooms; and deficient reviewing of reference documents in electrotechnical analyses.
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) completed its investigation on the fire in the mud laboratory on West Phoenix of 5 November 2018. The report identified several breaches of the regulations. This rig is operated by Seadrill Management (Seadrill), and was drilling well 6406/2-9 S in Norwegian Sea with Equinor as the operator, when the incident took place.
On 1 March, new environmental requirements for emissions and discharges in the world heritage fjords the Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, Geirangerfjord, Sunnylvsfjord and Tafjord entered into force. Norway aspires to reduce the emissions and discharges from cruise ships and other vessels. Another vital goal of the regulations is to reduce health risks for area residents.
Months after the frigate’s collision in Fjord, many operations have been made aiming to prevent the vessel from sinking. After the attempts, the Royal Norwegian Navy conducts an operation to partially raise the sunken vessel, starting from February 26.
UNESCO has declared the Geiranger and Nærøy fjords on Norway’s west coast as World Heritage Sites in 2005. This aims to protect the natural heritage in the fjord environment. In order to help ensure the protection of the fjords, Norway is reviewing a law to reduce emissions and discharges in the area. This will be achieved through stricter regulations to ensure a better environmental footprint.
