Abstract
Working offshore in maritime operations is dangerous, making it key to mitigate risks as much as possible. The environment is extreme and challenging - even small changes to current operations and equipment can significantly improve safety and lower can the probability of a negative outcome should an incident occur. This paper will discuss some of those dangers as well as how utilizing a reaction washer (RW) for hydraulic bolting operations is a practical and safer alternative to using bolting tools with reaction arms.
Diving in general is inherently risky as humans enter a world for which they are neither designed, nor naturally equipped to be in. Commercial diving (offshore, inland, or industrial facility) is an especially hazardous job that requires working long hours in dangerous and unpredictable conditions while donning bulky and expensive equipment. Both equipment and human divers may be subject to water temperatures that range from 80°F to sub-zero. Divers and ROV's are exposed to a variety of marine hazards like low visibility, plant life, marine animals, current or sea state. Concerning issues for divers specifically include the risk of drowning, respiratory and circulatory complications, and hypothermia. Often the water at these depths is murky, sometimes with a only foot or two of visibility (or none at all), making it difficult to be fully aware of one's surroundings (pipelines, structures, hoses, tools, and other equipment). This can result in a diver hitting their back, head, or equipment on any number of subsea obstructions. When a diver surfaces too quickly they risk Decompression Sickness (DCS or The Bends), which is one of the most critical and potentially deadly risks of working underwater.
ROV's are another option for subsea bolting operations. They are subject to many of the risks mentioned above for human divers, and face hazards of their own. ROV's are expensive and extremely complicated pieces of equipment requiring lots of support and maintenance for their many systems (hydraulic, electrical, computer, sonar, navigation, lights, and cameras). There is a high rate of maintenance time per hour of operation, and repairs or replacement can be very costly. A key piece of equipment, the arm-like manipulator (there are typically two per ROV), ranges from $500,000 to $650,000 (each), in addition to the high cost of the ROV itself.