Tag: Offshore Survey

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.

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

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 publications@legacy.imca-int.com 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 legacy.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

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