Risk assessment for ship collisions against offshore structures

Offshore installations served by in-field vessels and/or situated in the vicinity of ship traf¬fic lanes are exposed to collision hazards such as risk of loss of life, economic loss, and environmental damage. Therefore, one of the many performance goals in the design phase of such structures is to ensure that the risk for major accidents and service disruptions is low enough to be acceptable to users, the public and those responsible for public safety. The collision risk hazards must also be re-evaluated at proper time intervals during the operational phase in order to update the risk estimate due to changes in ship traffic in the vicinity of the offshore structures and new developments within navigational equipment and pro¬cedures. The paper highlights some of the available analytical elements in collision frequency estimation and response calculations for different types of offshore installations and indicates how these tools can be applied to evaluate relevant risk control options.