Unmanned Surface Vessels as a safer and more sustainable alternative for maritime operations within the Offshore Safety Zone

Abstract

Offshore industry is in need for alternative shipping solutions, due to stricter environment regulations and higher fuel prices. Thanks to common advancement in technology, it is now possible to develop safer and more sustainable vessels for offshore operations. Therefore, purpose of this study is to investigate whether Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) can replace conventional vessels in light Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) operations within installation`s safety zone. For this reason, USV`s features were investigated in terms of benefits they may bring for IMR operations. Secondly, issues concerning cooperation between USV and offshore installation were identified as well as their possible solutions. In order to examine USV`s sustainability, weather window analysis for “Åsgard” platform was carried out. Based on the obtained results, it was possible to choose the most appropriate Launch and Recovery System for USV`s Remotely Operated Vehicle. Data for this study was obtained through extensive literature research of official documents, scientific journals, books and statistics. This thesis presents benefits as well as challenges that await USV within next decade. Moreover, it can serve as a great basis for further research on other USV applications within safety zone, such as subsea constructions, supplies etc. On the other hand, concept of unmanned vessels is still new, which results in limited number of available resources, standards and regulations. Therefore, most of the thesis is based on assumptions and free interpretation of existing regulations that could apply to USVs and their employment within installation`s safety zone.