Ove Tobias Gudmestad, Professor Emeritus of Marine Technology, University of Stavanger, Norway
Means to ensure the safety of offshore cables and pipelines
Presentation at the 9th SRA-E Nordic annual conference Nordics, Baltics and the Arctic in Transition Uncertainties and Opportunities for Risk Analysis
Authors: Ove Tobias Gudmestad, Tomas LundbergAbstract:Several cases of damage to offshore pipelines and cables in the Baltic and Barents Seas have occurred recently. Unprotected on the seafloor, these facilities are vulnerable to explosions, trawl boards, and dragged anchors. The question arises how important infrastructure, like these pipelines and cables, can be protected against unforeseen events and sabotage.
In this respect, it must be noted that trawling is allowed in countries’ economic zones and international waters and that all ships may drop anchors in case of emergency. The new situation is that the frequency of damage has increased due to irregular actions, so the probability of an unwanted event has increased.
This paper raises a concern that full physical protection may not be economically feasible or technically possible, and that protection of the relevant infrastructure should be based on the importance of the specific infrastructure, taking into consideration the vulnerability of society, by including environmental and economic factors. Reference will in this respect be made to present codes for the building of civil engineering structures.
Bio:Ove
Tobias Gudmestad is a Professor Emeritus of Marine Technology.
He
has a Dr. Scient degree in Applied mathematics and studied in Bergen, Tromsø
and Boston (at MIT).
He
worked with Statoil (now Equinor) on many aspects related to Marine Technology
until 2008
Since
1994, he was a part-time teacher, and from 2008 Full professor of Marine
Technology at the University of Stavanger.
After
official retirement, he has worked with several Universities in Norway and
abroad, specializing in marine and maritime technology as well as Cold Climate
Engineering.
