Site Updates
○ New - May 16, 2022: BSEE and USCG released a Joint Safety Alert (USCG Safety Alert 05-22) summarizing contributors and recommendations related to a Drillship's unsuccessful attempt at avoiding Hurricane Ida. Additional OCS-related safety alerts can be found here.
○ New - May 4, 2022: D8 OCS Policy Letter 01-2022, Verification of Training and Drills for Personnel Assigned Special or Emergency Duties on Floating Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Facilities (FOFs), was issued on May 3, 2022 and cancels D8 Policy Letter 03-2000, CH-1, Policy on Manning of Non-Self-Propelled Floating Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Facilities.
○ New - April 13, 2022: Questions by the Offshore Operators Committee and their membership related CG-OES Policy Letter 01-22 and CG-MMC Policy Letter 01-22 regarding changes in Coast Guard policy/oversight of floating OCS facilities and the answers provided by the Coast Guard have been posted to the FOF FAQs page. A pdf document of the questions and answers is available here.
○ New - April 5, 2022: D8 OCS MSIB 22-01, Reporting Requirements and Mooring Arrangements for MODUs and Vessels Completing OCS Activities Intending to Cold Stack. The D8 OCS MSIB collection can be viewed here.
○ Recent - February 10, 2022: Guidance Documents, Oversight and Manning Requirements for Floating OCS Facilities (FOFs) were published via Federal Register 87 FR 7716, Docket No. USCG-2020-0049. This FR announces the release and discusses policies related to Floating OCS Facilities, CG-OES Policy Letter 01-22 and CG-MMC Policy Letter 01-22. These policies are also available on the National Policy tab of the FOF Regulatory Guidance page. MMC PL 01-22 cancels D8 PL 08-2001.
Readers are encouraged to review the FR notice in conjunction with the policy letters for additional, explanatory information related to these policy changes.
Note that the D8 OCS OCMI staff and additional USCG personnel are currently working on a plan to implement these policies for the FOFs that are determined not to be vessels, along with a method to present pertinent information related to these policy changes to industry stakeholders in a timely manner.
○ Updated - December 23, 2021: Updated OCS contact information (California and Alaska) on the USCG OCS Organization Chart.
○ Recent - December 21, 2021: Report of Investigation into Shell AUGER TLP Lifeboat No. 6 Inadvertent Hook Opening with Loss of Life and Injury at Garden Banks 426 on the U.S. OCS in the Gulf of Mexico.
View the AUGER LB 6 page for information related to this incident.
December 22, 2021: See the Investigation Recommendations tab on the AUGER LB 6 page for a ready reference to the ROI recommendations and District Commander's endorsement of the same.
December 30, 2021: Added timelines that detail the accident and maintenance events for the Lifeboat No. 6 casualty.
February 8, 2022: Added USCG testing report for the Schat-Harding LHR 3.5M2 release mechanism (Enclosure (2) to the Report of Investigation).