The seventeenth IMCA annual seminar took place at the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 4-5 November 2009. On the theme Integrated marine operations in challenging times, the event attracted over 300 delegates for a range of presentations, workshops, social/networking events and an exhibition.

Supporting organisations included IBP (Instituto Brasileiro de Petró, Gás e Biocombustíveis - the Brazilian Petroleum Institute). A number of local delegates attended, including both members and those new to the association and its work.

The new IMCA Central & South America Section is already seeing much interest and growth and this event both further raised the association's profile and enabled the exchange of ideas from and to the region in the pursuit of safe and efficient marine contracting.

The programme included a broad range of subjects, covering recent technical developments with implications for the industry, through to health, safety and environmental issues. For this year's event, a simultaneous translation service was provided throughout.

The strong growth of the seminar exhibition continued, once again breaking a record as 28 supplier members displayed their products and services.

Hugh Williams welcomed delegates to the event, before introducing IMCA President Johan Rasmussen of Acergy for the opening keynote address. Johan spoke on how marine contractors can make progress in challenging times, outlining the importance of continued investment, ongoing integration and of common principles of risk assessment and safety management. He concluded that IMCA membership remained a key part of integration in challenging times. Alvaro Teixeira of IBP followed with a keynote address outlining some of the key challenges facing the E&P industry offshore Brazil. Giorgio Martelli of Saipem reiterated the importance of integration for successful contracting, proposing key integration tools including knowledge sharing. Steve Preston of Heerema Marine Contractors then brought the keynote session to a close with a historical perspective on marine contracting, concluding that the industry could respond well to technical and economic challenges through adoption of the common guidance and practices encouraged by IMCA.

After a morning plenary session which included further presentations on subsea safety, dockyard safety and geopolitical challenges, the seminar then split into three parallel sessions. For the second year, marine and diving sessions were joined by a successful and well-attended offshore survey and ROV stream. These sessions covered a diverse range of technical matters, including green DP, deep diving health issues and atmospheric and solar effects on precise positioning.

Day two commenced with a plenary session with presentations on transportation and installation of mooring piles in deep water, lifting equipment design and decommissioning of large structures.

The technical sessions included presentations on economic design of fault tolerant DP systems, hyperbaric diver emergency facilities and high resolution AUV survey sensors and data.

The afternoons featured a series of workshops on topics such as diver health, IMCA’s role at IMO, deep water umbilical and handling systems, lifting operations and DP incident reporting. The social and networking programme included a poolside drinks reception on the first evening, dinner at Porcao Rio, a renowned beachside barbeque restaurant and a very successful closing drinks reception onboard the vessel Spirit of Brazil, including a tour of the Guanabara Bay.

Joint plenary sessions

• Introduction and welcoming address - Hugh Williams, IMCA Chief Executive
• Keynote addresses: Integrated Marine Operations in Challenging Times
  - Johan Rasmussen, Acergy - IMCA President
  - Alvaro Teixeira, IBP
  - Giorgio Martelli, Saipem - Steve Preston, Heerema Marine Contractors
• Envision a safer subsea worksite - Paul Smith, Acergy
• Geopolitical challenges - a comparison of marine operations in international oil and gas regions - case studies - Brian Jones, LOC
• Safety in shipyards - developing the vessel owner/shipyard relationship - Pete Somner and John Greensmyth, Technip
• Transport and installation of 14 mooring piles in 1,300m water depth with a DP 2 heavy lift vessel - Richard Krabbendam, Jumbo Offshore
• Deepwater lifting operations - considerations in design of equipment - Pete Somner, Technip
• Experience in the removal of large structures in challenging environments - Guido Ammerlaan, Heerema Marine Contractors
• Met ocean advanced modelling - a tool for assisting marine operations - Marco Venturi, Saipem
• Vessel assurance and the role of common inspections - Ian Giddings, IMCA