At Beach, safety takes precedence in everything we do. The drilling rig will have a dedicated Safety Case that must be accepted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

Marine vessels and the drilling rig contracted by Beach 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 (AHO) before mobilising seabed assessment vessels and the drilling rig to the operational area, moving to different drilling locations, and when demobilising.
• Communication with other vessels and marine users will occur using standard maritime protocols.
• Compliance to Navigational Safety requirements, including lighting and Automatic Identification System.
• Safe operating distances will be maintained around all vessels and the drilling rig.

During the Seabed Assessments, there would be no Petroleum Safety Zones (PSZ) requiring exclusion of other vessels. However, as the vessel would have limited manoeuvrability, notices to mariners would be issued by the AHO requesting that vessels do not approach closer than two nautical miles of the assessment vessel.

During drilling, all vessels are required to abide by a two-kilometre 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 drilling program. Exact locations of mooring chains and anchors would be made available before the start of drilling each well.

There will also be a PSZ of 500 metres around the drilling rig during operations and for each well before and after drilling. This ensures safe operations for all marine users. Beach will communicate new PSZs created for wells and equipment to marine users as part of its ongoing consultation.

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

Beach standard operating procedures include emergency response plans, which are included in Environment Plans (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. Each EP must define and 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 (ALARP) through a range of control measures and include detailed Emergency Response Plans (ERP).

An ERP 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 worse 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. The control agencies for marine pollution emergencies in different states are:

• Department of Transport and Planning in Victoria
• Environmental Protection Agency in Tasmania
• Transport Roads and Maritime Services in New South Wales
• Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure in South Australia.

Before, and during operations, Beach conducts exercises to test the emergency response plans and identify any issues and improvements.

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.