Det Norske Veritas (DNV) a leading international provider of services for managing risk and National Drilling Company (NDC) of Abu Dhabi, recently co-hosted the second in a series of offshore technical seminars.

Held in Abu Dhabi, the conference was attended by over 80 regional and international industry professionals discussed solutions to the increasing problem of Jack System Failures on ageing self elevating jack-up rigs for offshore, throughout the region and worldwide.
Abdulrahman Ba Majboor Al Sayari, Assistant General manager of National Drilling Company, Abu Dhabi, commented, “The three main objectives of the seminar were to reaffirm our commitment to provide a common platform for rig owners, to share knowledge and technical experience and to create awareness amongst classification societies, of the problems currently faced by rig owners.”
Jacking systems are commonly used on offshore self elevating rigs for drilling, production etc.
Many of these jacking systems were installed 20 to 30 years ago when much of the rigs were originally commissioned.
The issue now, through ageing is that maintenance checks and repairs become more critical and surveys need to be made to ensure the operational safety of the rigs.
One issue hindering the sharing of the knowledge is the rig owners’ reluctance to report failures, concerned about potential adverse publicity which could result in losing their charter. The seminar was convened to encourage rig owners to put safety at the top of the agenda.
“We received some excellent feedback from delegates, especially on the role of classification societies throughout the region. It was invaluable to clearly understand issues from the market’s perspective,” said Carl Arne Carlsen, Head of Offshore Class, for DNV.