IROE Chair, Susan Gourvenec, talks to RAEng Fellows about her work as Theme Lead for the Engineering X Safer End of Engineered Life programme on improving safety in the decommissioning of offshore structures and ships

The Safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures and Ships programme forms part of the Safer End of Engineered Life Mission, which is itself part of the activities of Engineering X – a collaboration between the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation.

A global fleet of more than 50,000 ships, from bulk carriers to cruise ships, and more than 10,000 offshore structures provide industries and populations around the globe with raw materials, manufactured goods, food and energy. Currently there are around 5000 oil and gas structures and 5000 offshore wind turbines installed in our oceans. As much offshore infrastructure has been installed in our oceans in the last decade as in the 50 years before that, and is set to continue to rise exponentially. When offshore structures and ships reach the end of their productive life, they must be decommissioned and dismantled, recycled or disposed of. These immense engineered assets are designed and constructed to withstand the harshest environments and are often contaminated with hydrocarbons and other hazardous materials. Deconstructing these structures at the end of their engineering life is a complex and in many cases, hazardous, business. 

While decommissioning of ships and offshore structures can be carried out safely and responsibly, and is in some places, the reality is that in too many cases it is not. The International Labour Organization has classified shipbreaking among the world’s most dangerous occupations, with unacceptably high levels of fatalities, injuries and work-related disease.

The Safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures and Ships programme sets out to improve safety of decommissioning offshore structures and ships in those places where unsafe practices are most prevalent and present the greatest threat to safety of the workforce and the environment.

Find out more about the Safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures and Ships Theme.

Find out more about the Engineering X Programme and the Safer End of Engineered Life Mission.

See the presentation below and download the slides from the link at the bottom of this page.