IMCA was a proud supporter of Subsea Expo in Aberdeen from 20 to 22 February, sponsoring the technical discussions on the Conference’s Teal Stage. An active supporter of the industry event for many years – which offers great opportunities for networking with delegates, meeting Members, staying ahead of industry trends, and on top of the latest technological innovation – several IMCA colleagues attended this year. Among them was Roger Moore, Technical Adviser – Remote Systems & ROV and Offshore Survey, who chaired an industry discussion on ROV Technology & Handling at the Teal Stage. The discussion featured a range of
Technical Adviser, Nick Hough brings a short podcast highlighting key elements of this new guidance document. AUV has started to play a prominent role in the execution of offshore surveys in recent years. Surveyors use them for such tasks as pipeline inspection, bathymetry, and mapping of the sea floor. IMCA’s ‘AUV Audit Guidance Document’ (IMCA S 028) has been developed by members of the Offshore Survey Division Management Committee with a view to promote a common approach to the auditing of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and their associated support systems. You can find S 028 in our Publications Library – freely available for
The International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) newly published ‘AUV Audit Guidance Document’ (IMCA S 028) has been developed by members of the Offshore Survey Division Management Committee with a view to promote a common approach to the auditing of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and their associated support systems. While this document does contain some parallels with IMCA R 006 ROV Audit Guidance it also highlights technical guidance on the appropriate use of AUVs, for example, relating to the safe management of Lithium batteries. It is intended that IMCA S 028 will act as a framework for offshore contractors to form
The International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) newly published ‘Guidelines on the use of GNSS for tide calculations’ (IMCA S 027) provides an overview of how Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) can assist in more accurate real-time direct measurement of tidal changes. IMCA S 027 includes sections on tide theory; geodetic reference systems and tidal datums; tides from GNSS; quality assurance and quality control; as well as a useful glossary, plus references and a list of further reading which includes the recently revised IMCA S 015 – ‘Guidelines for GNSS positioning in the Oil and Gas industry’ produced with IOGP.
Technical Adviser, Nick Hough brings a short podcast highlighting key elements of this new guidance document. This document explains the use of global navigation satellite positioning systems (GNSS) for tide calculations. GNSS today includes GPS, the Russian GLONASS system and the European EGNOS system and other developing systems elsewhere in the world. Guidance covers how an overview of how Global Navigation Satellite Systems can assist in more accurate real-time direct measurement of tidal changes. You can find S 027 in our Publications Library – freely available for members to download. Nick Hough IMCA Contact Nicholas Hough Consultant – Safety and
Registration is open for the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) joint Asia-Pacific and Middle East & India Webinar taking place on 17 March (start time 08:00 GMT). The event, hosted by both IMCA’s Asia-Pacific and IMCA’s Middle East & India Regional Committees, focuses on current and topical issues and provides an opportunity for IMCA members to hear the latest on the work of IMCA alongside guest speakers. IMCA Contact Nicholas Hough Consultant – Safety and Security Contact Error: Contact form not found. As Nick Hough, Technical Adviser explained:“Our first webinar of the year will lead with a brief update from
The updated ‘Guidelines for GNSS Positioning in the Oil and Gas Industry’ has been released by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) as IOGP Report 373-19 and the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) as IMCA S 015. The report is a joint publication of the IOGP Geomatics Committee and IMCA’s Offshore Survey Division Management Committee and has wider use than purely by the oil and gas industry. The document provides guidelines for the use of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to position vessels, vehicles, and other fixed and mobile installations. Although primarily aimed at oil exploration and
Subsea metrology procedures are expanding rapidly to provide ever higher accuracy solutions, so the publication by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) of a revised version of ‘Guidance on subsea metrology‘ (IMCA S 019 Rev. 1) is both highly relevant and timely. The objective of subsea metrology is to determine accurately the relative horizontal and vertical distance between subsea assets, as well as their relative heading and attitude. Most commonly this is for pipeline connections and the document uses this work as an example throughout. The information determined by subsea metrology is then used by pipeline engineers to design a
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has undertaken the ambitious project of reviewing every guidance document in their extensive library, ensuring all are fully up-to-date. Work on the project, which started in January 2016, will be completed in the first quarter of this year. The comprehensive review has seen the Marine Division Management Committee and Offshore Survey Committees working together to revise some of IMCA’s important guidance covering acoustic and satellite-based position reference systems. The result is two new documents providing guidance to both the offshore survey and dynamic positioning community; and two revised documents of equal use to members
The rise of ‘ROV DP’, the capability to hold an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) stationary in the water column, has led to an increase in the sharing of ROV-mounted sensors, for ROV positioning, imaging and survey purposes. A workshop, organised by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) during Oceanology International 2016 (OI2016), will discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from this shared use of sensors and consider the future for this developing field of technologies. Taking place on Wednesday 16 March, alongside OI2016, the Workshop will be held in ExCeL London’s South Gallery Room 14. Coffee will be available from
Two documents on the shared use of sensors have been revised and merged to form one common document recently published by the International Marine Contractors Association as IMCA S023 ‘Guidelines on the shared use of sensors for survey and positioning purposes’. Download this new document by clicking here. The document reaches the conclusion that provided an appropriate and adequate risk assessment is undertaken and procedures to mitigate risks are in place using the guidance given in the new document, the shared use of sensors for different applications should not present any operational issues. Nevertheless, it is vitally important that vessel
Two recent events have highlighted how the International Marine Contractors Association and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES) are working closely to promote the importance of hydrographic and civil engineering surveying in the marine environment and the competency of their respective members. Under the terms of the 2014 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by both organisations, offshore survey personnel who have completed competence portfolios based on the IMCA framework can use this as a demonstration of their competence for membership of ICES. Likewise IMCA will promote recognition of the competence of ICES members to its international offshore contractor
‘Guidelines for the Use of Multibeam Echosounders for Offshore Surveys’ (IMCA S 003 Rev 2) has been extensively revised by members of the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) Offshore Survey Division Management Committee, to bring it up-to-date with current technology and practice, and is now available for downloading free of charge for members and non-members alike from the IMCA website. Printed copies of the 54-page document, which draws heavily on a number of existing standards and published papers, (by persons eminent in their particular fields), are available from
[email protected] at £20 for members and £40 for non-members. “The growth in
The increased use of inertial navigation systems (INS), particularly in support of offshore survey, installation and inspection tasks, has emphasised the need for a general introduction and outline of the use of inertial navigation technology used offshore. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has risen to the challenge and published ‘An Introduction to Inertial Navigation Systems’ (IMCA S 022) produced for the association by Gordon Johnson under the direction of the IMCA Offshore Survey Division Management Committee. Jane Bugler, IMCA’s Technical Director explains:”This new document provides a broad overview of INS technology currently in use in surface and subsurface positioning
Small changes have been made to the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Inter-Vessel Survey Data Standard Telemetry Protocol (IMCA S 006 Rev.2) “Our publications are constantly reviewed and revised and reissued where necessary, it is important that they are ‘living documents’,” explains Jane Bugler, Technical Director of IMCA.”The small changes made in this revision to IMCA S 006 are primarily to the names used in the examples to reflect changes in company names since the document was originally published.” The new version can be downloaded free of charge by members and non-members alike from the IMCA website at www.imca-int.com; and
The newly published ‘Guidelines for the management of peripheral survey sensors’ (IMCA S 021) has been developed under the direction of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Offshore Survey Division management committee. Since the 1970s technology has been developed and applied in the offshore surveying industry to provide better and improved accuracy, quality, reliability and resolution of data and results. The current use and application of the various core technologies and the developments in related peripheral devices require users to maintain an understanding of good practice. “The requirements for periodical calibrations and verification of offshore survey and navigation related sensors
Raising the profile of the competence of offshore personnel, and the value of company competence schemes, across the marine construction industry is one of the core activities of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Following the development of freelance materials for its Offshore Survey and Remote Systems & ROV divisions, and a revision of core Marine and Diving competence frameworks in 2012, IMCA has now launched freelance materials for its Marine and Diving divisions. This means that IMCA now offers a full suite of competence assurance frameworks tailored specifically for freelance workers. “Our message to all individual freelancers is simple,”
For many years the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published information on how many people were working offshore in ROV and diving roles, now for the first time they have published similar information on offshore survey personnel. “In early 2011 our Offshore Survey Division Management Committee decided that it would be beneficial to collect information on how many personnel were working offshore in survey-related roles, and how many of them were freelance personnel,” explains IMCA’s Chief Executive, Hugh Williams. “The data represents the responses of just 28 offshore survey contractor members of IMCA, and as it is the first
There is not a computer user alive who has not experienced the frustration of losing data – however, when talking about the safe handling and management of large volumes of valuable or significant survey and inspection data in the offshore industry, this escalates the problem from annoying to crucial and potentially costly. Technical developments have led to a rapid increase in the volume of data being collected, and more complex data handling via onboard networks. Data management strategies have changed to meet these new requirements and conditions. The International Marine Contractors Association has published ‘Guidelines on the Safe Management of
A new publication ‘Guidance on Subsea Metrology’ (IMCA S019) from the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) turns the spotlight on subsea metrology, covers the basics of subsea metrology, engineering requirements, the different methods and technologies, and some of the advantages and limitations of each technique. “Subsea metrology is the process of acquiring accurate and traceable dimensional measurements for the design of subsea structures, primarily interconnecting pipelines,” explains IMCA’s Chief Executive, Hugh Williams. “These pipeline interconnections are required to join subsea assets to complete the flow of hydrocarbons from the reservoir to processing and storage facilities. Subsea metrology surveys are conducted
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