ABS Contributes to Updated Guidance for Asset Owners Operating on Norwegian Continental Shelf
Class Society’s latest Rules and Guides now form part of documents published by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association
The Norwegian Shipowners’ Association has updated its Acknowledgment of Compliance (AoC) Handbook to include refreshed rule references and requirements for ABS-classed offshore units operating in the Norwegian North Sea. ABS together with industry stakeholders contributed to the latest edition published in February 2020, providing comments and advice to the revised edition.
ABS was first included in the Norwegian Petroleum Authority`s (PSA) Guidelines as an equivalent provider of technical norms in 2019, under the PSA’s Framework Regulation (FR) §3, which enables the application of relevant maritime regulations, supplemented by class Rules, as an alternative to technical requirements under its own Facilities Regulation.
ABS Rules and Guides can be used to meet the intentions in the PSA regulations, and ABS Certificates and Notations can be used as proof of compliance against some of PSA’s technical requirements and apply to classed and flagged offshore units.
ABS Director of Offshore Business Development Oystein Bruncell Larsen said: “The acceptance of ABS Class Rules and Requirements by the PSA are a clear demonstration that ABS is a compliant and credible alternative for asset operators in the North Sea; we look forward to supporting more clients on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”
Units operating on the Norwegian Shelf need an approved Safety Case and once this is assessed and approved, the PSA will issue an AoC. This process is described in the AoC Handbook.
The Handbook is developed and maintained by the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association, with contributions from PSA and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association and was updated in February 2020 to include refreshed class Rules references and requirements.
An ABS Compliance Matrix has also been posted on the NSA’s website as a supplement to the AoC Handbook. The Matrix is ABS’s alternative to the Handbook’s Enclosure D and visualizes the applicable ABS Rules and Guides which can be used as an alternative to the relevant requirements from the PSA`s Facilities Regulations.
The AoC Handbook and the ABS Enclosure D can be accessed and downloaded from here.
Norwegian Shipowners’ Association Section Director Oyvind Jonassen said: “ABS has participated actively with the Norwegian Ship Owner`s Association to update the AoC Handbook and has at the same time updated its own compliance matrix which serves as an alternative Enclosure D to the AoC Handbook”.
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