Safety pioneer Carl Arne Carlsen was awarded the Distinguished Individual Achievement Award at this year’s OTC dinner.
Carl has played a critical role in a range of massive safety industry overhauls throughout his 40-year career. He was recognised for his “outstanding, significant and unique achievements and extensive contributions” to the offshore industry.
Carl’s influence started as a direct result of the tragic Alexander Kielland incident, where 123 offshore workers lost their lives. Carl helped develop and introduce a new set of mobile offshore units(MOU) rules, which better protected workers and assets operating in the harsh North Sea environment.
He later led a major overhaul of the Enhanced Survey Program. The changes were spurred by a string of tragic accidents involving oil tankers and bulk carriers in the 90s. The new framework was adopted throughout the industry and later influenced the IMO’s (the UN’s International Maritime Organization) 1989 MODU Code.
“During my work to develop new rules and standards for the offshore industry I have learnt that it is often not the technical challenges that pose the biggest hurdles. The most difficult part is to find cost effective practical solutions that can gain acceptance among the various stakeholders in the industry and by the regulatory authorities,” Carl said.
Carl also played an influential part in introducing the use of FPSOs for safer and more cost effective operations in the North Sea.
He said: “The accident statistics for ordinary oil tankers did not meet the required regulatory level for oil production, and qualifying the ship analysis methods was an uphill struggle. It took several years to get industry consensus on how to handle these issues. Yet it was clear that with sound risk management FPSOs could enable production on new fields at a time of low activity in the North Sea.”
Henrik O. Madsen, DNV GL group chief executive, added: “Carl Arne Carlsen is a thought leader in the offshore industry. We are proud that he has spent his career with DNV, now DNV GL, and on behalf of all his 16, 000 colleagues I congratulate him with this recognition. Throughout his 40 years in DNV, Carl Arne Carlsen has had almost every possible position in the company.
“He has been a member of the executive committee, he has been a regional manager, a global network leader, head of R&D, plus a whole range of other positions. Through all this work, he has significantly helped DNV GL fulfill its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment.”
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