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Reflex Marine’s Toro seen in action.

Evacuation transfer capsules provide an intelligent and safe solution to emergency exit strategies.

Imagine the situation: During a well control operation at your deepwater offshore platform, a failure occurs to a vital piece of equipment, leading to a large gas blow out. Any personnel on board the rig would need to be evacuated in a safe and efficient manner, while key personnel would be required to be moved back and forth from a standby vessel in order to bring the situation under control.

The conditions are eventually stabilised without harm to any to the crew members, although a paramedic is transferred to from the rig to the vessel at one stage to administer medical treatment. An emergency averted with no loss of life.

This scenario did in fact happen, at an offshore installation in the Adriatic Sea, offshore Italy, in 1998. The crew's safe transfer between the offshore rig and stationed vessel was conducted by the specialist firm Reflex Marine, and their crane operated personnel transfer capsule, The Frog.

In 2006 Reflex Marine launched their latest version of the crane transfer capsule, the Frog-6, capable of carrying six people at a time. It has since been adopted by the likes of BP, Sakhalin Energy, Transocean and ConocoPhillips, and according to the company, since its introduction 10 years ago, the Frog has carried out millions of safe crane transfers globally.

But the Frog must now make fresh space in the pond for its younger sibling, the Toro. Launched two months ago, the Toro is Reflex Marine's brand new crane transfer capsule developed after consultation with clients, passengers and regulatory bodies involved in such a procedure.

"The Toro is our new personnel transfer device for offshore crane assisted transfers. It can seat up to four people at a time, or two plus a stretcher for MedEvac emergencies," says Duncan Cuthill, operations director, Reflex Marine.

"The focus we had when coming up with the Toro was on creating the best ride experience in the sector by looking at passenger comfort and security, high visibility during the transfers and a rapid exit. We believe the benefits it has over its predecessor, the Frog, are that it has reduced maintenance costs, is smaller and easier to store, can be moved in a standard shipping container and is more affordable."

Reflex Marine believe that it is time for offshore operators to review their emergency transfer options, and to reconsider using crane transfers which have become the "forgotten evacuation option" by many in the offshore industry.

"The recent industry focus on emergency and evacuation provisions suggests it is time for the industry to take a broader perspective of the options available," says Philip Strong managing director, Reflex Marine. "In the eighties, after the Piper Alpha incident, crane transfers had a very negative image in the industry, leading many to discount it as an evacuation option. This has been a loss, as many lives have been saved by crane-based emergency evacuations over the decades."

Indeed, Cuthill points out that a recent risk assessment carried out by DNV (Det Norske Veritas) for a major operator in Azerbaijan, concluded that crew boat transit combined with a Frog-3 crane transfer carries four times less risk than helicopter transfers.

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