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account a whole series of accidents: the loss of the well control resulting in fires, explosions which may lead to the loss of the entire installation, helicopter crash in the close vicinity of the offshore installations in the security range of offshore rigs, at distances smaller than 500 meters around them, collisions between other ships with the drilling installations, the need for emergency evacuation of injured or ill persons. The accidents on board the offshore rigs may reach large dimensions, can develop rapidly, so the rescue / evacuation means existing on board the affected offshore facilities can be partially or totally unusable. The fire expansion, the smoke, can make the helicopter landing impossible on the heliport of the affected offshore rig. In situations such as offshore installations capsizing, the rescue means become unusable. The fire fighting equipment on board the rigs may become inoperative or ineffective, unable to cover the need for response to efficiently fight against fire: in this case, the external aid in the fight against fire may be the salvation. The number of persons who may be evacuated on board a stand by vessel is much greater than the number of passengers that could be taken on board the helicopter in the same situation, the helicopter having the capacity of up to 5 people and a stretcher. In the Black Sea at present there is only one helicopter for all the existing fixed and mobile offshore units.
History The offshore oil industry has been marked by a series of unfortunate events that led to the activation of stand by vessels in oil fields in the North Sea and the coastal areas of the United States of America. Dates, the same as names such Piper Alpha - July 6 1988, Alexander L. Kielland - 27 March 1980, Petrobras Enchova Central Platform 16 August 1984, have a sad resonance among people working in the offshore
The number of persons who may be evacuated on board a stand by vessel is much greater than the number of passengers that could be taken on board the helicopter in the same situation, the helicopter having the capacity of up to 5 people and a stretcher. industry. These tragic events have led, in the states where this industry has developed rapidly during that period, to the fast increase of the security measures, among them counting the presence of the stand by vessels in the oil fields. Piper Alpha platform disaster (167 casualties, 62 survivors) generated at the end of the survey conducted for two years, a list of 106 recommendations aimed to improve safety; they were fast accepted and implemented by the offshore operators. One can even say that the offshore industry has seen with other eyes the concept of safety of the offshore professionals; that there are two distinct periods from the rescue interventions’ possibility prospective: the period before Piper Alpha and the one after Piper Alpha. After „Piper Alpha“ there were first drawn the instructions making clear reference to the functions and specifications of the stand by vessels (SBVs) in the offshore oilfields. Stand by ships are the principal means of escape for the offshore personnel serving permanently or temporary the offshore rigs. In the UK, the stand by vessels can stand within a radius of
SBVs - ship endowed with special equipment, having the ability to fully evacuate the staff of offshore installations and to participate in efforts to fighting major fires. The purpose of such a vessel is to save staff at risk from the offshore rigs, on board helicopters, the people falling overboard into the water from rigs and ships, the rescue of personnel in case of catastrophic accidents.
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