Recent developments in offshore rig/ platform evacuation

Abstract During severe storms, evacuation systems for offshore rigs and platforms currently in use have proven themselves to be inadequate. Typically, during deployment of a lifeboat, it is often damaged to the point of not being seaworthy before it reaches the ocean surface. This is especially the case for cable-launched boats where a pendulum-like motion of the craft on its cables is often set up. It is less of a problem for free-fall lifeboats. Even when a craft reaches the ocean surface intact, high winds and waves can drive it back against the rig/platform structure. This paper describes the state-of-the-art of evacuation. It focuses on two new systems being developed by the authors in Newfoundland, Canada.

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