Offshore driller Transocean has been given a notice of order by the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), following an audit of the Transocean Spitsbergen drilling rig.
The PSA said on Wednesday that the audit focused on the management of emergency preparedness and logistics on the Transocean Spitsbergen drilling rig.
The safety body added that the supervisory activity on the rig was conducted between January 29 and February 2, 2018.
The audit identified several breaches of the regulations in the emergency preparedness and logistics discipline area. A number of these non-conformities related to conditions identified during audits of other Transocean rigs.
On the basis of the investigation’s findings, Transocean was given a notice of order. In the notice of order, the PSA said that the company must conduct a review of its management system, with associated work processes, which is intended to ensure the correction of technical, operational and organizational faults and deficiencies.
This work must include an assessment of why observations from audits of logistics and emergency preparedness on other Transocean rigs have not been identified and corrected on Transocean Spitsbergen.
Transocean must also implement measures to ensure that results and learning which follow from the order cover all facilities for which Transocean is responsible in Norway.
The PSA added that a scheduled plan for complying with this order must be submitted to by March 23, 2018.
To clarify, an order is an administrative decision and a strongly preventive instrument which is legally binding on the recipient, in this case, Transocean. Before the PSA issues an order, it usually sends a notice of order to the affected companies which is neither an instrument nor a notice of sanctions.
As for the rig, the Transocean Spitsbergen is of the Aker H-6e type. It was built at the Aker Stord yard in 2009, registered in the Marshall Islands, and classified by DNV GL.
The semi-sub received a new Acknowledgement of Compliance from the PSA in November 2012.