Residents in a small village less than a mile from where the Foinaven FPSO is laid up have expressed climate concerns as plumes of black smoke have been seen emanating from it.
The floating production ship, formerly at the namesake BP oilfield West of Shetland, arrived at Hunterston Port in Ayrshire on August 8, where it has been kept on low power throughout via its diesel generators.
Residents of nearby Fairlie have expressed concerns about the climate emissions linked to exhaust fumes coming from the vessel, as well as intermittent black smoke seen arising from it at intervals.
Complaints have been issued to the local council and MP about the emissions, the smell and noise pollution.
Officials at the local council have investigated and said the severity and duration of the dark smoke do not breach environmental regulations, and the noise and smell from the vessel also do not constitute a nuisance.
‘It’s a rusting hulk and it’s lying outside our wee village’
Fairlie resident Jackie Pearson said: “Now and again you get a disgusting belch of horrible black smoke coming out of it.
“We’ve had this for a month now, droning away. Creating light pollution, creating exhaust pollution. It’s a rusting hulk and it’s lying outside our wee village.”
Chair of the community council Rita Holmes said: “The Petrojarl Foinaven has been here several weeks now, bombarding us with repetitive generator noise and irritating fumes when we have still weather conditions or a west wind. Fortunately for us, the prevailing winds are not westerly.
“The stack discharges are constant, mainly grey, but every so often they are thick and black. The fumes are choking and several villagers have complained that they are making them unwell.
“The worst aspect of this whole scenario is not knowing what is happening so close to us, in our beautiful waterway, there is no contact with anybody at the site in charge of things.”
Vessel owner Teekay said the unit’s departure from Hunterston is “imminent pending receipt of the necessary permits and approvals from the relevant authorities”.
The firm did not, however, clarify how long that may take or the ultimate destination of the vessel, which Energy Voice understands to be Denmark.
A Teekay spokesperson said they would “like to thank all parties concerned for their forbearance and assistance during the unit’s stay.
“While every effort has been made to keep the use of onboard machinery to a minimum, some operations have been necessary in order to sustain healthy and safe conditions for our seafarers and to keep the unit operating in accordance with Safety of Life At Sea requirements.”
Teekay
It’s understood that, following an incident in February 2021 when a Valaris rig broke from its moorings, Hunterston now requires all vessels to keep generators and engines on in case of emergencies – however the Foinaven FPSO itself is not self-propelled.
A spokesperson for Peel Ports – the port authority and onwer of the Hunterston facility – confirmed that the vessel satisfies the requirements from a port authority to safely berth, and that it switched to low-emissions fuel when it arrived.
© Supplied by https://ayrshireandaHe added: “Hunterston is a working, operational port and we will continue to provide safe berth for different vessels.
“These vessels come and go without a fixed schedule and the timing of its departure is down to the vessel owners Teekay.
“Noise monitoring was carried out after the ship’s arrival at Hunterston and noise levels fell within the regulations.”
North Ayrshire and Arran MP Patricia Gibson said: “My constituents are understandably keen to know what assessment Peel Ports undertook, or is required to undertake, prior to this vessel coming to Hunterston of the potential effect on local air quality of emissions from the vessel and, if so, what the findings of any assessment was.
“Most importantly, everyone wants to know when this unwanted vessel will leave.”
In contrast, local councillor Tom Marshall, who lives a mile from the port, said that there have been “a few complaints” but he personally has seen “the odd smoke emission” and “very seldom any noise from it”.
He underscored that is is an operating port and the Foinaven FPSO is not causing a statutory nuisance.
“However we do welcome the continuing monitoring of the situation by environmental health officers,” he added.
Foinaven FPSO arrival August 8
After removing the FPSO from its oilfield, BP selected Hunterston as the site for removal of its equipment and signage from the vessel, which was under its charter from its arrival on August 8 – August 30.
Villagers have expressed deep frustration at a lack of clarity on when the FPSO will depart.
Although BP has corresponded with residents, locals have expressed some frustration with the oil major.
Resident John Riddell said: “The concern has been not only about local effects – smell must mean the gases are at times reaching the village – but also the impact on climate change.
“Both BP and Peel (Ports) make statements about their ‘green’ credentials and their concern about the environment, but it seems that creating continuous engine exhaust from a ship moored close to a village is not part of this.”
Checks
Environmental auditors carried out checks while the vessel was under BP’s charter, and recorded a 20-second emission of black smoke on August 25, though this did not result in any nuisance onshore, they said.
Several other checks have been carried out since, which have not recorded smoke or nuisance, auditors said.
A spokesperson for BP said: “The Petrojarl Foinaven was under bp’s operatorship at Hunterston between August 8th and August 30th. During this time, the vessel’s power system was running to provide essential services to enable the safe handover of the vessel to its owner Teekay. bp returned the FPSO to Teekay on August 30th who reassumed full responsibility for the vessel, including operational requirements at Hunterston and all future plans.
“Safety is central to everything bp does and we always seek to minimise the impact of our operations on the communities in which we operate. We take environmental issues and concerns very seriously and have been engaging with the community around Hunterston directly.
“bp will of course seek to address any further questions from the community that fall within our remit, however, it is for Teekay to address live operational matters related to the FPSO or questions about future plans for the vessel.”
Cause
The two diesel generators on board the Foinaven use marine oil to keep systems on board running; a necessity for the health and safety of the crewmen.
According to documents seen by Energy Voice, the black smoke arises during an initial boiler ignition process, required to generate heat.
It’s understood those on board have been attempting to cut down the frequency of this process, though Teekay has not confirmed this.
Mr Pearson of Fairlie, added: “If someone said it’s going in 10 days, I might go ‘okay, I’ll bite my lip and say cheerio to it’.
“But you don’t know. Nobody is prepared to tell you the truth.”