Operating safely at Beach

Safety takes precedence in every activity undertaken by Beach.

The drilling rig contracted by Beach will have a dedicated Safety Case that must be accepted by NOPSEMA. Marine vessels and the drilling rig will operate in accordance with Australian Maritime Standards, regulated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

This includes adherence to the following protocols at sea:

  • notifications to the Australian Hydrographic Office before mobilising to the operational area, moving to different well locations, and when demobilising
  • communication with other vessels and marine users will occur using standard maritime protocols
  • safe operating distances will always be maintained around vessels and the drilling rig
  • compliance with Navigational Safety requirements, including lighting and Automatic Identification System.

Exclusion zones

When the drilling rig is on a well location, all vessels are required to be abide by a 3 km radius cautionary zone around the drilling rig. The cautionary zone is to allow for anchors, mooring chains, and wire to be placed within the operational area during the activity. Exact locations of mooring chains and anchors would be made available before the start of activities each well.

There will also be a Petroleum Safety Zone (PSZ) of 500 m around the drilling rig during operations and for each well before and after activities. Beach will communicate new PSZs created for wells and equipment to marine users as part of its ongoing consultation. PSZs are administered by NOPSEMA under Section 616 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act). PSZs extend for a radius of up to 500 m and are gazetted around wells, structures, and equipment.

Entry into PSZs is prohibited to all except those vessels authorised to do so by NOPSEMA (as detailed in the gazetted notice) or exempt under Section 615 of the OPGGS Act. PSZs are shown as a 'Restricted Area' on navigation charts.

Emergency planning

When conducting any offshore activity, there is an extremely unlikely risk of release of hydrocarbon (which is primarily gas) from a well during activities or from marine vessel fuel in the event of an accident.

Beach standard operating procedures include emergency response plans, which are included in EPs. Preparing emergency response plans involves modelling of all possible hydrocarbon releases in the local area using a worst-case scenario, assuming no control measures are in place. The modelling calculates the transport, spreading, entrainment and evaporation over time, using data on the prevailing metocean conditions (wind, wave, and climate), the volume released, and the physical and chemical properties of the hydrocarbons.

The modelling determines the full extent of the ‘Environment that may be affected’ known as the EMBA. EPs will describe the EMBA and include an assessment of the likelihood and consequences of any hydrocarbon release, which must be reduced to As Low As Reasonably Practicable, known as ALARP, through a range of control measures and include detailed response plans.

An emergency response plan describes the arrangements that must be in place for responding to and monitoring any release of hydrocarbon and include:

  • 24/7 on-call team for rapid response clean-up actions, including mobilisation of personnel and equipment.
  • 24/7 on-call team for modelling and monitoring of a hydrocarbon release to inform response activities, and monitoring of effectiveness of response activities.
  • Control measures necessary for ensuring rapid response and maintenance of capabilities (personnel and equipment).

These arrangements are based on the worst-case event associated with the proposed activities to ensure that Beach has the appropriate level of response arrangements and capability.

Beach maintains a current contract with Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC) based in Geelong for access to spill response resources and personnel. In Victoria, the Department of Transport is the control agency for marine pollution emergencies. Beach also conducts exercises to test the emergency response plans and identify any issues and improvements before, and during, operations.

For more information on hydrocarbon release modelling and why it is required for the preparation of EPs, click here to watch a video on the NOPSEMA website.