Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.
Issue link: https://uscgproceedings.epubxp.com/i/578020
81 Fall 2015 Proceedings www.uscg.mil/proceedings Vessel Division, the Traveling Inspector Staff, the Marine Inspector/Investigator Schoolhouse at Training Center Yorktown, and FORCECOM to review and update perfor- mance qualifcation standards (PQS). The LGC NCOE con- ducted a major overhaul of the foreign gas carrier examiner performance qualifcation standards, developed a prereq- uisite guidance document, and drafted the Coast Guard's frst industry indoctrination requirements. The OCS NCOE played a primary role in developing the new Foreign Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Examiner and Offshore Supply Ves- sel Inspector (OI) PQS along with their associated industry indoctrination requirements. The OI PQS also has two addi- tional addenda for liftboats and anchor handling. Further, the LGC NCOE has helped develop the weeklong gas carrier inspector course, which has provided training for more than 220 prospective foreign gas carrier examin- ers, and the OCS NCOE recently established a contract with the Shell Oil training facility to create the Coast Guard's outer continental shelf inspector course. In February 2015, the frst class of 20 Coast Guard inspector trainees attended and gas experts, these NCOEs act as the USCG's central loca- tion of expertise for the now-broader oil and gas industries. In response, the LGC NCOE is increasing its expertise with LNG and liquefed petroleum gas (LPG) export operations and facility construction, foating liquefaction, and LNG storage and use as a marine fuel. The OCS NCOE is steadily broadening its understanding of the impact of subsea activi- ties that continue to push boundaries, such as high-tem- perature, high-pressure wells in water depths greater than 10,000 feet. Focus on Safety With Gulf of Mexico production (81 percent of oil and 53 per- cent of gas in 2014) originating from deep water wells, the need to maintain and enhance a risk-based focus on deep- water operations will challenge the Coast Guard to meet forthcoming safety demands. 1 Additionally, the OCS NCOE is enhancing Coast Guard offshore inspection workforce training by establishing cooperative instructional partner- ships with offshore operators and embracing industry-led training. The national centers of expertise work with their respec- tive industries to cultivate an attitude that encourages mov- ing beyond the traditional prescriptive approach to safety and compliance and facilitate for performance-oriented approaches. In this way, marine and offshore industry repre- sentatives actively participate in creating their own policies with which to maintain self-accountability. The NCOEs also continuously seek opportunities to acquire experience with novel marine and offshore-related projects and engage with Coast Guard feld units and headquarters policymakers to create practical compliance directives. As the energy industry advances equipment, processes, and people, the national centers of expertise work to identify and address gaps between those advancements and existing regulation. Looking to provide a greater degree of compli- ance certainty and consistency, the NCOEs regularly work to assist industry stakeholders in identifying equivalencies to satisfy compliance concerns impacting novel assets and operations. For example, the LGC NCOE has played an instrumental role in developing key U.S. guidance for the domestic and international liquefed gas industry, such as updates to the International Gas Carrier Code, the International Gas as Fuel Code, and LNG-fueled vessel design and engineering policy letters. Training The NCOEs also work closely with the Coast Guard's Offce of Commercial Vessel Compliance/Foreign and Offshore Representatives of the Liquefed Gas Carrier National Center of Expertise (LGC NCOE), the USCG, and a representative of Conrad Shipyard discuss components of a containment system for the frst liquefed natural gas bunker- ing barge in the U.S. being built by the shipyard in Orange, TX. U.S. Coast Guard photo by the LGC NCOE.