Page 17 - North American Clean Energy January February 2014

Marine inspection
Jane Bugler is technical director of the International Marine at EWEA Ofshore 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany, expanded on the
he Common Marine Inspection Contractors Association (IMCA).
signiicance of ofshore wind power adopting guidance from other

Document (CMID) is signiicant as it industries.
provides a standard format for inspection Alan MacLeay is the engineering director for Renewables at Seaway
of ofshore vessels. Its use helps promote Heavy Lifting, as well as chairman of the IMCA Renewables Workgroup. International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA)
safety and eiciency, and can help reduce His presentation, “Synergies with Other Maritime Technologies,”
www.imca-int.com | www.imcacmid.com
the number of repeat inspections on
individual marine vessels.
An inspection should be planned

and undertaken in liaison with a vessel
owner, and undertaken by a competent
inspector. Vessel charterers and clients
may consider the inspection report

before commissioning any further
inspections. As a 'living' document, the
CMID may be kept and updated onboard
a vessel, thereby reducing the time

involved in an audit.
he CMID is regularly reviewed and
updated in the light of regulatory and
technical developments. A major review

of the CMID was undertaken in May
2011 by a cross-industry workgroup, with
input provided by contractors (vessel
operators), charterers, consultants, and

other interested parties. Since then, a
further update has been published. he
CMID database has also been updated
to include marine inspection for small

workboats, the type frequently used in
the ofshore wind industry.

Safety lashes

Safety lashes and systems for incident
reporting and analysis are an important
tool for sharing vital information. A
system currently exists for sharing such

lashes to help those around the world
identify potential hazards, share lessons
learned, and avoid repetition.
A safety lash incident report

should provide suicient detail and
communicate risks, precautions, as
well as the necessary actions, without

releasing information about the people or
organizations involved. he report should
be succinct, speciic, factually correct, and
written in clear language. All submissions

need to be handled in the strictest
conidence, and checked and published
only with clear permission from the
originator.

Such a system, and working to the
suggested guidelines, will be invaluable
in the North American ofshore wind
sector, where safe operations will be of

paramount importance, Learning from
sectors that have already worked ofshore
for over 40 years simply makes sound
commercial sense.

* he International Marine Contractors
Association (IMCA) is an international
trade association representing ofshore,

marine, and underwater engineering
companies, ofering good practice guidance
to the ofshore industry on technical and
safety issues.