Assess whether an offshore installation is a suitable candidate for conversion to normally unmanned operation.
Oil, Gas & Energy
Remote Operations Centres and Normally Unmanned Offshore Installations
Design the safety case, control architecture and maintenance regime for normally unmanned offshore installations monitored from an onshore remote operations centre.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Removing permanent crew from an offshore platform changes almost every engineering and safety assumption behind its design, from how an emergency shutdown is triggered to how a routine leak is noticed. This course examines how normally unmanned installations are engineered and operated: simplified process configurations that reduce the interventions a platform might need, remote control and telemetry architectures that let an onshore remote operations centre monitor several installations at once, and the safety case adaptations needed when the assumption of an on-site emergency response team no longer holds. Participants work through control system and communications design, alarm management aligned with EEMUA 191 rationalisation principles, cyber security controls consistent with IEC 62443 for industrial control systems, and the periodic maintenance visits, planned around vessel or helicopter access, that substitute for continuous crewing. Sessions also cover risk assessment methods adapted for unmanned operation and emergency response arrangements that replace an on-site team. Teaching draws on control room walkthroughs, alarm rationalisation exercises and a maintenance planning workshop. Participants finish able to assess whether an installation is a candidate for unmanned conversion and to specify the control, safety and logistics arrangements it will need.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Specify a remote control and telemetry architecture that lets an onshore centre monitor several installations at once.
Rationalise alarms in line with EEMUA 191 principles to keep a remote operator's workload manageable during upset conditions.
Apply IEC 62443 security principles to protect remote control and SCADA systems from unauthorised access.
Adapt hazard identification and risk assessment methods to reflect the absence of a permanent on-site crew.
Plan a periodic maintenance and inspection regime built around scheduled vessel or helicopter visits.
Design emergency response arrangements that substitute for an on-site team during an unmanned installation upset.
Who Should Attend
Offshore production and operations engineers evaluating unmanned or reduced-manning platform concepts.
Control systems and instrumentation engineers designing remote monitoring and shutdown architectures.
HSE and safety case specialists adapting risk assessments for normally unmanned installations.
Remote operations centre staff and control room operators managing multiple offshore assets.
Maintenance planners scheduling vessel and helicopter-based interventions on unmanned platforms.
Asset managers assessing the business case for converting a manned platform to unmanned operation.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Concepts and Design Basis for Unmanned Operation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1What Changes When Crew Leaves the Platform
- Identify the design assumptions that change when a platform moves from continuously manned to normally unmanned status.
- Compare simplified process configurations that reduce the interventions an unmanned installation is likely to need.
- Explain how equipment redundancy and reliability requirements shift when routine human intervention is unavailable.
- Assess candidate installations against criteria such as production complexity, process risk and location.
Session 2Regulatory and Safety Case Considerations
- Identify the safety case elements that must be revised when an installation moves to unmanned status.
- Reference guidance published by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers on unmanned facility design.
- Coordinate with regulators early in a conversion project to confirm the evidence they will expect.
- Define the operating envelope within which an unmanned installation is permitted to run without intervention.
02Remote Control, Telemetry and Alarm Management
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Control and Communications Architecture
- Specify the telemetry links, including satellite and microwave options, that connect an installation to a remote centre.
- Design remote control and emergency shutdown systems that operate reliably despite communication latency or loss.
- Define failsafe behaviour for critical systems when communication with the remote operations centre is interrupted.
- Integrate video surveillance and condition monitoring feeds into the remote operator's situational picture.
Session 2Alarm Rationalisation for Remote Operators
- Apply EEMUA 191 rationalisation principles to reduce nuisance alarms reaching a remote operator.
- Prioritise alarms so a remote operator can distinguish a developing emergency from routine process variation.
- Test alarm response procedures against upset scenarios using a control room simulation.
- Review alarm performance data periodically to identify bad actors requiring further rationalisation.
03Cyber Security and System Resilience
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Securing Remote Control Systems
- Apply IEC 62443 zone and conduit principles to segment control networks connecting the installation and remote centre.
- Assess the cyber security exposure created by remote access, satellite links and third-party maintenance connections.
- Define access control and authentication requirements for engineers connecting remotely to platform control systems.
- Coordinate cyber security incident response between the remote operations centre and platform-level systems.
Session 2Building Resilience into the Operating Model
- Design redundancy into telemetry links so a single communication failure does not isolate the installation.
- Define escalation paths for when the remote operations centre loses visibility of an installation for an extended period.
- Test failover between primary and backup remote operations centres through planned exercises.
- Review incident history to identify recurring causes of communication or control system failure.
04Maintenance, Logistics and Emergency Response
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Planning Maintenance without Permanent Crew
- Build a maintenance plan around scheduled vessel or helicopter visits rather than continuous on-site presence.
- Prioritise maintenance tasks by risk so safety-critical work is never delayed beyond its visit window.
- Coordinate spare parts and logistics so a maintenance visit is not wasted waiting for missing equipment.
- Use condition monitoring data to decide whether a maintenance visit can be deferred to the next scheduled trip.
Session 2Emergency Response for Unmanned Installations
- Design emergency response arrangements that substitute for an on-site team, including remote-activated shutdown and isolation.
- Define the criteria that trigger dispatch of an emergency response team to an unmanned installation.
- Coordinate emergency response plans between the remote operations centre, marine support and onshore emergency services.
- Test emergency response arrangements through joint exercises involving the remote centre and response teams.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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