Safer Rig Operations: Simulator training at Simsea

Accommodation platform Floatel Superior in Storm in the North Sea.

Back in November 2012 a serious incident occurred at Floatel Superior at the Halten bank close to Njord A. At the time there were 374 persons onboard the rig and over 330 of these were evacuated by six helicopters.
A video illustrates the situation:


The focus is of course to prevent such incidents and to be able to handle the situation should it occur. And, training of rig personnel is a must! In a simulator we can create most dangerous situations and incidents which make simulators the preferred learning arena for such training. Flotel companies like Floatel International and Prosafe have trained and retrained their personnel systematically in full scale simulators at Simsea over the years since the incident at the Halten bank. Such training is however not only relevant for flotels; the risk for incidents like that on the Halten bank is just as serious for drilling rigs, especially during drilling operations.
The training requires an accurate rig simulator model and will typically have learning objectives as:

.
The focus is of course to prevent such incidents and to be able to handle the situation should it occur. And, training of rig personnel is a must! In a simulator we can create most dangerous situations and incidents which make simulators the preferred learning arena for such training. Flotel companies like Floatel International and Prosafe have trained and retrained their personnel systematically in full scale simulators at Simsea over the years since the incident at the Halten bank. Such training is however not only relevant for flotels; the risk for incidents like that on the Halten bank is just as serious for drilling rigs, especially during drilling operations.
The training requires an accurate rig simulator model and will typically have learning objectives as:

  1. Understand DP limitations and handle failures causing drift on or drift off situations created by different DP failures like loss of power, switchboard, thrusters, PRS failure etc.
  2. Understand the rig’s stability and ballast configuration and handle stability situations like water flooding in ballast tanks, leakage in pump room, sensor failure, etc.
  3. Understand Posmoor ATA limitations and set up the system including anchoring/line system; standoff position, different line lengths, tension etc. Handle failures like line break, sensor failures, sea/waves, etc.
  4. Human factors like leadership, role distribution, communication, stress handling, decision taking etc. is an integrated part of the training.
    Training objectives and simulator exercises is set up in close cooperation with company management and course participants. he involvement of the course participants is essential to create the highest possible training motivation!