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Tunnels for offshore oil
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Some Continuing Centres, though, are barely distinguishable from Temporary Centres, which have very substantial problems of quality controlling their species identifications. The Temporary Identification Centre is one where identification services are set up just once or for discontinuous periods. Many environmental consultants in recent years have had to recognize that their good intentions to provide continuing commercial services could not survive the fewer and smaller contracts of the recent recession. In the Temporary Centres, the facilities are a product of the capital funding available initially to set up the laboratory, and operating funds from contracts. A well-funded laboratory, employing committed identifiers, will develop considerable experrise among its staff, even though they may have to personally hustle their professional contacts and mentors for such unbuyable support material as rare crucial literature, professionally identified reference specimens, and contacts leading to friendly co-operation with local specialists. Poorly funded Centres have difficulty meeting these demands, as do Centres which periodically sack their experienced identifiers and then, when a new contract is signed, employ a set of relative novices. • The point of all this is that both identifiers and clients of identification services need to recognize the features of the different Centres. Working identifiers need to
ensure accurate identifications even when they are working in a poorly-equipped Centre. For this they need certain support facilities which may be slow in coming. Clients need to understand and specify to what level the identifications must be accurate: species, genus, or family, or some mixture. A serious problem can arise where only a few identifications are needed at any one time and the identifiers cannot develop any real expertise in the taxa. This commonly occurs in student training programs at universities, and in the identifications by biologists who are only interested in occasionally confirming that they have right species for experiments or are interested in species names only as lists for ecological comparisons. Biologist identifiers should recognize that there are two steps in accurate species identifications. They are preliminary identification and verification. The former can be by any combination of recognizing spot diagnostic characters, laboriously working through dichotomous keys, using computerized artificial intelligence systems or whatever else works. The latter, verification, requires detailed comparison of specimens with species descriptions or authoritatively identified reference specimens. Clients should require their Identification Centre to document the process of verification (some call it quality control) that was used for the product being bought. D E R E K ELLIS
Several regional plans exist to fight oil spills in the area. These include a revolving fund contributed by the Japanese Council and managed jointly by ASCOPE, TARC, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Malaysia also has drawn up its own contingency plan for the Malacca strait with a large investment in equipment and oil spill response vessels. Two recommendations have been adopted, the first Following a seminar held in Kuala Lumpur on regional being to unify ASEAN and ASCOPE plans into one cooperation on oil spill contingency planning and consolidated regional plan and the second to maximize response, the Association of South East Asian Nations cooperation between countries in the ASEAN region (ASEAN) is drawing up a master plan to deal with and to optimize capabilities in regional exercises, planmajor oil spills in its waterways. ning, equipment, surveillance, training, and transfer of The aim of the plan is to bring together the existing equipment and personnel. capabilities of the ASEAN countries at regional level and those of the oil companies through the Tiered Area Response Capability (TARC). These include Shell, Esso, Mobil, British Petroleum, and Caltex. Delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, A technique first suggested by the University of NewBnmei, and Thailand attended the seminar with repre- castle upon Tyne for m/melting under the sea bed to tap sentatives from the ASEAN Experts Group on the offshore reserves is being considered by Statoil, the Environment, the coordinating body of the Seas of East Norwegian state owned oil company. The UK DepartAsia, the International Maritime Organization, and the ment of Energy has already commissioned a one year ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE). study to investigate the practicality of the idea and hired TARC, already endorsed by Singapore, Malaysia, and consulting engineers Babtie Shaw and Norton and Indonesia now seeks wider participation from other Lilley Construction for the job. members of the oil industry and acceptance by governUsing advanced tunnel drilling systems, similar to ments of other ASEAN counlries to ensure that equip- those proposed for the Channel Tunnel, it is reckoned ment and personnel can be mobilized quickly across that tunnelling could offer oil companies savings over national boundaries and air space if a major oil spill conventional fixed platforms for oil fields up to 50 km occurs. offshore. There are many advantages to the system.
Oil Spill Master Plan for South East Asia
Tunnels for Offshore Oil
480
Volume 17/Number 1 I/November 1986
Construction and production would not be troubled by adverse weather conditions which commonly plague platform operations during North Sea winters. Environmental pollution would be virtually eliminated, individual wells being situated at the ends of a series of interconnecting adits and shafts and easily isolated at the first sign of blow-out trouble. Tunnelling would be of particular advantage in inshore waters infested by icebergs. One possible disadvantage could be the considerable construction time, although tunnel advance could be at a speed of 1-1.5 km a month depending on the geology of the route. When compared with the three year development time for an offshore platform, the tunnel solution may be a favoured option.
Fishermen Oppose Proposed Tern Pipeline The 16 inch diameter pipeline proposed for Shell's development of the Tern field in the northern North Sea has given rise to a dispute between the offshore industry and Scottish fishermen's representatives. Shell is proposing to lay two 13 km pipelines between the Tern field and the North Cormorant platform (120 km north east of Shetland). At present Shell envisages trenching only the 8 inch gas line but the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) is demanding that the 16 inch diameter oil line is also trenched. Informal discussions held under the auspices of the UK Department of Energy have not so far been able to resolve the matter.
The Department of Energy is producing a report but fishermen's representatives have suggested that a public inquiry may have to be held. The SFF regards the area as an important fishing ground for demersal species and is concerned that interruption of fishing activities could affect vessels from the north east Scottish coast and Shetland.
World Maritime Day Theme Global cooperation for safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment was the theme for this year's World Maritime Day, celebrated on 25 September by the International Maritime Organization. In his annual World Maritime Day message, the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr C. P. Srivastava, said that the theme was chosen for two main reasons. In the first place, cooperation is at the very root of all aspects of IMO's work and its achievements. Secondly, promotion of cooperation between the 129 Member Governments and the many international organizations and bodies associated with IMO represents a major contribution to the maintenance and enhancement of international understanding and mutual accommodation of interests on which alone true peace can be constructed. Since its inception in 1959 IMO has overseen the adoption of over 20 international conventions and associated protocols covering nearly every aspect of maritime safety and environmental protection. The development of such a comprehensive set of international standards and regulations itself reflects the remarkably untroubled history of the organization and
~6 "Know what I dread most? Getting oil on my moustache."
481
Some Continuing Centres, though, are barely distinguishable from Temporary Centres, which have very substantial problems of quality controlling their species identifications. The Temporary Identification Centre is one where identification services are set up just once or for discontinuous periods. Many environmental consultants in recent years have had to recognize that their good intentions to provide continuing commercial services could not survive the fewer and smaller contracts of the recent recession. In the Temporary Centres, the facilities are a product of the capital funding available initially to set up the laboratory, and operating funds from contracts. A well-funded laboratory, employing committed identifiers, will develop considerable experrise among its staff, even though they may have to personally hustle their professional contacts and mentors for such unbuyable support material as rare crucial literature, professionally identified reference specimens, and contacts leading to friendly co-operation with local specialists. Poorly funded Centres have difficulty meeting these demands, as do Centres which periodically sack their experienced identifiers and then, when a new contract is signed, employ a set of relative novices. • The point of all this is that both identifiers and clients of identification services need to recognize the features of the different Centres. Working identifiers need to
ensure accurate identifications even when they are working in a poorly-equipped Centre. For this they need certain support facilities which may be slow in coming. Clients need to understand and specify to what level the identifications must be accurate: species, genus, or family, or some mixture. A serious problem can arise where only a few identifications are needed at any one time and the identifiers cannot develop any real expertise in the taxa. This commonly occurs in student training programs at universities, and in the identifications by biologists who are only interested in occasionally confirming that they have right species for experiments or are interested in species names only as lists for ecological comparisons. Biologist identifiers should recognize that there are two steps in accurate species identifications. They are preliminary identification and verification. The former can be by any combination of recognizing spot diagnostic characters, laboriously working through dichotomous keys, using computerized artificial intelligence systems or whatever else works. The latter, verification, requires detailed comparison of specimens with species descriptions or authoritatively identified reference specimens. Clients should require their Identification Centre to document the process of verification (some call it quality control) that was used for the product being bought. D E R E K ELLIS
Several regional plans exist to fight oil spills in the area. These include a revolving fund contributed by the Japanese Council and managed jointly by ASCOPE, TARC, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Malaysia also has drawn up its own contingency plan for the Malacca strait with a large investment in equipment and oil spill response vessels. Two recommendations have been adopted, the first Following a seminar held in Kuala Lumpur on regional being to unify ASEAN and ASCOPE plans into one cooperation on oil spill contingency planning and consolidated regional plan and the second to maximize response, the Association of South East Asian Nations cooperation between countries in the ASEAN region (ASEAN) is drawing up a master plan to deal with and to optimize capabilities in regional exercises, planmajor oil spills in its waterways. ning, equipment, surveillance, training, and transfer of The aim of the plan is to bring together the existing equipment and personnel. capabilities of the ASEAN countries at regional level and those of the oil companies through the Tiered Area Response Capability (TARC). These include Shell, Esso, Mobil, British Petroleum, and Caltex. Delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, A technique first suggested by the University of NewBnmei, and Thailand attended the seminar with repre- castle upon Tyne for m/melting under the sea bed to tap sentatives from the ASEAN Experts Group on the offshore reserves is being considered by Statoil, the Environment, the coordinating body of the Seas of East Norwegian state owned oil company. The UK DepartAsia, the International Maritime Organization, and the ment of Energy has already commissioned a one year ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE). study to investigate the practicality of the idea and hired TARC, already endorsed by Singapore, Malaysia, and consulting engineers Babtie Shaw and Norton and Indonesia now seeks wider participation from other Lilley Construction for the job. members of the oil industry and acceptance by governUsing advanced tunnel drilling systems, similar to ments of other ASEAN counlries to ensure that equip- those proposed for the Channel Tunnel, it is reckoned ment and personnel can be mobilized quickly across that tunnelling could offer oil companies savings over national boundaries and air space if a major oil spill conventional fixed platforms for oil fields up to 50 km occurs. offshore. There are many advantages to the system.
Oil Spill Master Plan for South East Asia
Tunnels for Offshore Oil
480
Volume 17/Number 1 I/November 1986
Construction and production would not be troubled by adverse weather conditions which commonly plague platform operations during North Sea winters. Environmental pollution would be virtually eliminated, individual wells being situated at the ends of a series of interconnecting adits and shafts and easily isolated at the first sign of blow-out trouble. Tunnelling would be of particular advantage in inshore waters infested by icebergs. One possible disadvantage could be the considerable construction time, although tunnel advance could be at a speed of 1-1.5 km a month depending on the geology of the route. When compared with the three year development time for an offshore platform, the tunnel solution may be a favoured option.
Fishermen Oppose Proposed Tern Pipeline The 16 inch diameter pipeline proposed for Shell's development of the Tern field in the northern North Sea has given rise to a dispute between the offshore industry and Scottish fishermen's representatives. Shell is proposing to lay two 13 km pipelines between the Tern field and the North Cormorant platform (120 km north east of Shetland). At present Shell envisages trenching only the 8 inch gas line but the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) is demanding that the 16 inch diameter oil line is also trenched. Informal discussions held under the auspices of the UK Department of Energy have not so far been able to resolve the matter.
The Department of Energy is producing a report but fishermen's representatives have suggested that a public inquiry may have to be held. The SFF regards the area as an important fishing ground for demersal species and is concerned that interruption of fishing activities could affect vessels from the north east Scottish coast and Shetland.
World Maritime Day Theme Global cooperation for safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment was the theme for this year's World Maritime Day, celebrated on 25 September by the International Maritime Organization. In his annual World Maritime Day message, the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr C. P. Srivastava, said that the theme was chosen for two main reasons. In the first place, cooperation is at the very root of all aspects of IMO's work and its achievements. Secondly, promotion of cooperation between the 129 Member Governments and the many international organizations and bodies associated with IMO represents a major contribution to the maintenance and enhancement of international understanding and mutual accommodation of interests on which alone true peace can be constructed. Since its inception in 1959 IMO has overseen the adoption of over 20 international conventions and associated protocols covering nearly every aspect of maritime safety and environmental protection. The development of such a comprehensive set of international standards and regulations itself reflects the remarkably untroubled history of the organization and
~6 "Know what I dread most? Getting oil on my moustache."
481