Introduction
The Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) has amended the Regulations of 2 February 2016 No. 90 on evacuation and life-saving appliances on mobile offshore units1.
These amendments enter into force on 1 July 2018.
The consultation
The proposed amendments to the Life-saving Appliance Regulations were circulated for review on 29 June 2017 with deadline for comments on 4 October 2017. We received one suggestion for amendments, with which the NMA agreed. We therefore circulated a proposal for new wording of section 33 seventh paragraph (current sixth paragraph) for review on 20 December 2017, with deadline for comments on 18 February 2018. Seven bodies replied to the consultation, which also included proposed amendments to the Construction Regulations2, but none of these had any comments to the proposed amendment of section 33.
Comments to the individual amendments
In section 2 subparagraphs a to c, the end quotation mark is moved in front of the colon.
In order to use the same terms as in the Regulations of 21 December 2017 No. 2381 on cranes and lifting operations on mobile offshore units3, the term “deck cranes” in section 3 second paragraph, section 12 first paragraph and section 33 sixth and seventh paragraphs (current fifth and sixth paragraphs) are amended to “offshore cranes”. The reference in section 12 first paragraph is updated to the new Crane Regulations, and section 33 fifth paragraph is repealed because this is covered by the new Crane Regulations.
The requirement of section 33 seventh paragraph (current sixth paragraph) is new, and compared to current law, this requirement provides the possibility of using alternative solutions for storing a fibre rope for the fast rescue boat. Fibre ropes may e.g. be placed in a locker or similar.
In Appendix I item 10, a reference to the Regulations of 30 August 2016 No. 1042 on marine equipment was introduced by mistake in connection with the previous amendments to the Regulations. Since Appendix I contains excerpts from the repealed Life-saving Appliance Regulations of 2007, the reference should point to the Regulations of 29 December 1998 No. 1455 on marine equipment, as it did prior to the previous amendments.
Administrative and financial implications
In our assessment, the amendments will not have any significant administrative consequences.
With regard to the amendment of section 33 seventh (current sixth paragraph), the consequence may be that the company has to purchase and install an appropriate locker where the fibre rope can be stored, but on the other hand, the storage of the fibre rope in a different location than in the fast rescue boat may result in reduced costs due to less wear and tear on the rope because of more optimal storage. Overall, it is therefore our assessment that the amendment will have minimal or no financial implications for the industry.
We cannot see that the remaining amendments will have any financial consequences, neither for the industry nor for the administration.