RPS and Mahakarya successfully deliver metocean survey for INPEX - despite COVID-19

Operating safely has always been the top priority for the oil and gas sector, and when delivering projects during a pandemic, this takes on a whole new dimension.

When the world went into lockdown almost overnight, the RPS and Mahakarya geo survey metocean teams were about to embark on a major site visit to service metocean equipment deployed at Abadi for INPEX in Indonesia. Careful management of COVID-19 risks was needed before the team could board the vessel and proceed with their activities as planned.

A ‘Metocean Bubble’ was created whereby all personnel would be quarantined and tested prior to boarding the vessel where they would remain, technically in isolation, for the duration of the project. The project involved 26 days at sea with over 50 metocean operations taking place: including mooring recoveries and deployments; instrument servicing; CTD casts; and water sampling. This phase of the study was very successful with an extremely high rate of data return (99%), and zero cases of COVID recorded.

Commenting on the project, Nicholas Kauffmann, VP Project INPEX said, “This successful and safe operation has set the benchmark for other stakeholders, on how to proceed with the exploration and development activities or campaign during the ‘new normal’ situation.

MGS and RPS’ preparation is well coordinated, and everyone is aligned. We are confident to move forward with our next activities, while maintaining safe and healthy protocols.” he said.

Setting a new precedent, following the safe and efficient completion of this project, Julius Wiratno, Operations Deputy of Upstream Oil and Gas Special Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas), advised other PSCs (Production Sharing Contracts) to follow this operations model to improve efficiency, but importantly, to responsibly manage the ongoing safety of their personnel.