The Committee provides expert analysis and input to the development of metocean-related standards and regulations serving as a central voice for the industry’s advocacy efforts.

The Committee leads the offshore industry in applying innovative metocean techniques to improve the design and operations of offshore structures. Additionally, the Committee offers guidance on emerging physical risks from climate change and leads and promotes advancements in long-term monitoring, hindcasting, and statistical analysis techniques.

Encouraging a better understanding of how applied oceanography and meteorology can improve the design and operation of offshore and onshore structures.

The Metocean Committee also serves as the industry link with relevant government agencies and certification societies.

Objectives

Offshore facilities and operated facility or critical infrastructure need to withstand the forces of winds, waves and ocean currents over the 30-40 year life span of a producing field. That is why offshore structures and infrastructure design, construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning are critically dependent on a thorough understanding of all the forces that prevail in the marine environment.

IOGP’s Metocean Committee encourages a better understanding of the value of applied oceanography and meteorology both within and outside the industry. It promotes use of sound metocean techniques in offshore and onshore structure design and operations. When appropriate, the Committee also builds industry consensus on relevant issues.

Committee activities include:

• Critiques of existing and proposed rules and regulations of government agencies and certification societies
• Providing a focal point for communicating metocean industry requirements to relevant regional and global metocean organizations
• Developing appropriate metocean standards in safety and engineering
• Advancing oceanography, metocean, and statistical analysis techniques for developing metocean design criteria. These include joint probability, hindcasting, instrumentation, methods of observation and remote sensing of metocean data. In particular, the Committee highlights cost-effective techniques such as improved data collection methods and the use of numerical models
• Providing a forum for the discussion of on-going regional Metocean projects and helping to initiate Metocean research in key risk or growth areas

Contacts

Requests for further information about the IOGP Metocean Committee should be addressed to Birgitta Visser, Metocean Committee Manager and JIPs, at bv@iogp.org