Читать книгу Underwater Inspection and Repair for Offshore Structures - Gerhard Ersdal - Страница 25

The US took a lead in the development and regulation of the offshore industry, as the Gulf of Mexico was well developed as early as the 1960s when the first edition of API RP‐2A was issued. When other countries were developing offshore structures there was a lack of appropriate local design standards. As a result, API RP‐2A became the default used as the basis for design of such structures around the world. By the end of the 1970s, some local standards and codes were introduced. The most notable of these were the issue of the UK Department of Energy Guidance Notes and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Rules.

In addition, several ship classification societies became involved in the offshore industry and released appropriate rules, some based on API RP‐2A. These included American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas and Lloyds Register. Many mobile offshore structures have a class certificate provided by one of these leading Classification Societies, where inspection has been an important part of the class system and regulation, which has been developed over many years of experience by owners, regulators and class societies.