Feature 1 | Tankers of The 21sT CenTury
Tanker designs for whitefield
developments
As oil and gas exploration in the harsh Arctic environment increases, it is
presenting new challenges for the designers of the tankers and gas carriers
that are expected to be the workhorses that bring those resources to market.
T
he industry is already seeing vastly Compared to the Baltic, the Arctic has a ‘The capital investments involved,
increased transportation of oil from much harsher environment and it is remote the financial risks of downtime, and the
the Baltic with many new owners with little infrastructure to support year environmental risks of failure are so great
and operators sending tankers into the main round transportation. The presence of multi- that safety can no longer be implied: it must
oil terminals in the Gulf of Finland, such as year ice imposes additional loads on the hull, be explicitly understood,’ she adds.
Primorsk, Vysotsk, Tallinn, and Muuga in the propulsion system, and appendages, which Dr Tikka contends that traditional
dead of winter. But the most recent horizon is must be accounted for in the design. prescriptive standards have served the
much farther north, in the ice-covered waters Yet the parameters under which new industry well. ‘Empirical knowledge
of the Arctic polar region north of Russia. designs and technical approaches must be will always form a bedrock upon which
In December of last year Samsung HI developed are clear – they must be able to appropriate technical standards will be
delivered Vasily Dinkov (Significant Ships of satisfy the needs of industry within reasonable founded,’ she says. ‘But these techniques are
2007), the first in a series of 70,000dwt double and practicable operational, commercial, no longer sufficient, by themselves, to offer an
acting shuttle tankers specifically designed to safety, and environmental constraints while acceptable level of confidence that the risks
operate in those harsh northern waters. It is operating within an environment that, in the associated with a venture have been properly
the largest commercial ship designed and built past, has been almost exclusively reserved for addressed.
for Arctic service. Dual classed by ABS and the world’s most powerful icebreakers. ‘The increased complexity and larger size
the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping This will demand much more sophisticated of the vessels being developed for operation
(RS) it will operate under time charter to vessels, much more expensive vessels, and in harsher and more remote environments
Naryanmarneftegas, a ConocoPhillips/ a willingness to assess and understand the are driving the adoption of safety equivalency
LUKOIL joint venture company. Many more much greater operational risks to which these standards, of unified standards, and of risk-
such vessels are projected to be built in the assets will be exposed. ‘These new ventures based approaches to lifecycle management
coming years as precious northern energy are creating risk exposures that demand that will help promote safe and reliable
resources begin to be developed. more analysis, greater attention, and more operation. In many instances these new
The experience from Baltic operations comprehensive and systematic approaches to designs will incorporate novel concepts that
will be valuable for owners as they turn their risk management,’ says Dr Kirsi Tikka, vice go beyond our empirical experience.’
eyes further north. But a great deal more president global technology and business According to Tikka, ‘when the new
preparation will be needed if tankers are to development at ABS. Finnish-born, Dr Tikka technical frontiers extend beyond known
operate safely and efficiently in the extreme has a visceral understanding of the challenges boundaries, it is the application of
low temperatures that will be encountered. that lie ahead. sophisticated risk assessment techniques that
will guide the designers, and form the basis
for the classification and statutory acceptance
Vasily Dinkov, the first in a series of 70,000dwt double acting shuttle tankers specifically
of these new designs.’
designed to operate in the ice-covered waters of the Arctic polar region north of Russia.
She is, however, quick to dismiss
any thought that the challenges may
prove insurmountable. ‘The technology,
the brainpower, and the willingness is
readily available,’ she says. ‘Technology
breakthroughs such as dynamic loading
analysis, probabilistic modelling, non linear
structural response, composite materials,
quantitative risk assessment, and numerical
simulations help us rationalise structure
performance and safety requirements and
provide us with the risk superior moves the
industry counts on.’
20 The Naval Architect March 2008
NA Mar 08 - p20+22+
23.indd 20 10/03/2008 14:10:34
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