Line of Sight: Pipeline Law Alerts and Analysis

On May 20, 2014, The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and U.S. Coast Guard issued a joint Safety Alert  strongly recommending that leaseholders/operators consider Coast Guard recommendations for dynamic positioning vessels when evaluating potential hazards and establishing and implementing contractor safe work practices in their SEMS program. The Safety Alert was issued in response to an incident where an equipment failure, an operational error and multiple failure modes not identified in a vessel’s Failure Modes and Effects Analysis combined resulting in loss of position. The crew performed an emergency disconnect from the well avoiding injury and environmental impacts.