Basic HTML Version
SAMCoT • Annual report 2012 49
especially thick ice and help decide the loads one might
have on marine structures in the area,” Dr. Lubbad
continued.
“A prerequisite to the success of this research cruisewas
the avoidance of accidents during operations. Therefore,
the issues of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) were
high on our agenda throughout the project planning and
execution phases. An early risk assessment mapped
high risk circumstances inherent in a research cruise
of this nature: remote location, extremely cold climate,
operations on sea ice and icebergs, handling of weapons
(polarbear guards) and long distance medical evacua
tion transport,” said Dr. Lubbad.
The wording “perform a safe cruise” was a prior
ity included in the overall cruise objective. Although
all partners in the project have the same ultimate
zero accident philosophy, HSE framework and HSE
requirements differ due to the different backgrounds
of the partners which participated in the project, i.e.,
academic, governmental and commercial. Nonetheless,
alignment of the HSE framework and HSE requirements
for this operation and reducing HSE risks to acceptable
level was imperative.
Through an open dialogue, definition of clear roles and
responsibilities, acknowledgement of the different
backgrounds and focusing on reaching the final HSE
objective, a pragmatic approach was found. Risk assess
ments at different levels, understanding the specific
Arctic nature of this project, played a key role herein.
On the other hand the diversity in backgrounds brought
different highly relevant expertise into the project, for
example SPRS and SMA with long marine operational
experience in Arctic waters, NTNU and UNIS with exten
sive research activities on sea ice and icebergs experi
ence, and Statoil with offshore marine operations and
risk assessment competence. The open dialogue atmos
phere created a fruitful collaboration, learning from
each other and building on each other’s strong points.
From a HSE perspective the cruise succeeded without
a single accident.
“Statoil’s financial support in the research expedition,
of course, proved vital to the study’s success and we
also appreciate the scientific contribution both Statoil
and UNIS provided to SAMCoT as valuable members of
our scientific team,” said Dr. Lubbad. We are as greatly
appreciative for the logistical support from UNIS.
“We look forward to sharing our findings from the Oden
Arctic Technology Cruise into the future and to new
expeditions that will further expand our knowledge of
polar ice behaviour,” said Dr. Løset.
Arctic Coastal Surveys
– Varandey and
Baydaratskaya Bay
In the Arctic seas, declining ice levels are contributing to
increased shipping activity and increased exploitation of
oil and gas reserves. It stands to reason that there will
inevitably be increased activity on shores in the region
as well. However, an effect of the retreating ice cover
is Arctic shorelines being exposed to wave erosion for
a longer period of the year. Global warming may also
cause thawing of shoreline permafrost and thus contrib
ute to increased erosion.
In 2012, researchers participated in two distinct studies
of Arctic coastal permafrost erosion behaviour on north
ern Russia shorelines: at Varandey on the Barents Sea
coast of northern Russia; and within Baydaratskaya Bay
(Baydara), a gulf in the adjacent Kara Sea. The research
ers selected these locations based on the high erosion
rates, relative accessibility to the areas and availability
of vital temporal data.
Landing on Pesyakov Island, July 2012.
Photo: Nataly Tikhonova