Therefore, a safe and reliable offloading system is paramount for the safe operations of the FPSO. Clear and straight-forward procedures for the offloading operation further promote the safety and well-being of the FPSO offloading and offloading tanker crew.

The need to offload can have a significant impact on the FPSO performance. The impossibility to offload the FPSO due to adverse weather conditions may result in reduced or loss of production, hence loss of revenue.

Thus, the correct selection of an offloading system and methodology will minimise the capital and operational expenditure involved.

The FPSO Offloading Operability JIP aims at developing a tool to assist in:

• Evaluation of the design and operation procedures
• Determination of limiting weather conditions for the offloading operation
• Assessment of the safety of the offloading operation

To accomplish this, wind tunnel tests will be conducted to establish the interaction between wind and current loads on two tankers close to each other. Using this information, a software tool will be developed, which can simulate the offloading tanker approach to the FPSO and the behaviour of both the FPSO and offloading tanker during the offloading operation. The tool will be set up such that it can be used in both the design and the operational assessment. Finally, it will be validated by means of model tests.

The FPSO Offloading JIP started in April 2002 and is to be completed by March 2004.