Why is layup a seemingly essential part of the offshore oil and gas industry cycle? It is a ‘given’ that exploration and production (E&P) spending growth is highly correlated to oil price. So a fall in the barrel price affects E&P activity levels, which in their turn contribute directly to lack of demand for MODUs (mobile offshore drilling rigs) and OSVs (offshore support vessels) in the upstream sector. The layup of DP vessels is thus an inevitable consequence of a low barrel price with vessels heading for the traditional layup locations.
Once the decision has been taken to put a vessel into layup, a superintendent will ask him/herself a number of key questions:
• When do I expect to return my vessel(s) to service?
• How should I manage a fleet of laid up vessels?
• What is their reactivation time?
• Is the vessel (or vessels) due for dry dock prior to reactivation?
• Do I know where the vessel is likely to re-enter service next?
• Is there a reactivation plan? • Has any failure analysis study been completed for the vessel?
• What layup strategy and maintenance was done in layup?
REACTIVATION IMMINENT
IMCA has recently released an information note on the reactivation of DP vessels following a period of layup. This 15-page aide memoire is designed to be used by vessel owners and operators, their Marine Superintendents and Accredited Vessel Inspectors (AVIs) tasked with inspecting DP vessels after a period of layup. Its publication helps to ensure that everyone concerned is singing from the same hymn sheet in the essential steps to reactivate a vessel, and get it back into safe and active service.
During 2017, the IMCA Marine Division Management Committee recognised that with improving industry metrics, member companies could be considering reactivating their owned and managed vessels, following a period of layup. At the IIMS- organised eCMID Accredited Vessel Inspector Seminar, I reported on the findings of a Clarksons Platou Securities survey of 1,700 owners and charterers of OSVs who were taking an optimistic view of the market. Statistics then available showed that:
• 80% of owners and charterers expect ship use to rise
• Near-term vessel demand had risen markedly relative to their August 2017 survey
• The 2017 figure for a rise in utilisation was 40%, compared to 80% in 2018
• A quarter of respondents from oil and gas companies were unwilling to charter a vessel stacked for more than six months - This rose to 60% at more than a year idle
- And 75% at more than two years idle
- At more than three years idle the figure was 90%
• 92% of owners said they would demand a contract in order to reactivate a vessel.
These statistics show the importance of really effective reactivation readiness. They also highlight the fact that nowadays it is a far cry from, for example, the mid-1970s when traditional ‘cold layup methods’ were based on preventing corrosion and seizure in machinery and there was a relatively simple ‘to do’ list. This comprised dehumidification of accommodation and bridge; dehumidification of the engine room and machinery spaces; and the periodic turnover of machinery. Even with such a limited list of activities there were reactivation issues, which included:
• Electronic equipment failure – failed to start
• Pneumatic control systems sticky or not operating correctly
• Stiffening of ship side valves • Corrosion issues in ballast lines • Spares required to reactivate not on board
• Crew not familiar with the vessel
• No plan and therefore no idea how long to reactivate
• Could not pick up the anchor / twists in the chain
We were well aware that with more sophisticated vessels the steps to effective reactivation would be a great deal longer
The Report • September 2018 • Issue 85 | 35
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