Offshore engineering glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms that appear in offshore tenders, class correspondence and marine warranty reviews — each linked to the service that delivers it.
📖 Glossary
Marine warranty survey (MWS)
A marine warranty survey is the independent review and approval of a marine operation — a load-out, transport, lift, installation or tow — on behalf of the insurer. The…
📖 Glossary
Third-party verification (TPV)
Third-party verification is an independent technical check of engineering against the project design basis and the applicable codes, commissioned by the owner or operat…
📖 Glossary
Certified verification agent (CVA)
A certified verification agent is the independent third party that the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) requires to verify the design, fabricati…
📖 Glossary
FEED (front-end engineering design)
Front-end engineering design is the project phase between concept selection and detailed engineering in which the design basis, process and layout, major equipment, str…
📖 Glossary
Load-out
A load-out is the operation of moving a fabricated structure — a jacket, module, topside or vessel section — from the quay onto a barge or heavy-transport vessel, by sk…
📖 Glossary
Sea fastening
Sea fastening is the temporary structure — stoppers, braces, lashings, clips and welds — that holds a cargo to the deck of a barge or vessel during a sea transport, des…
📖 Glossary
Float-over installation
Float-over is a method of installing a topside on a jacket or a floating hull without a heavy-lift crane: the topside is transported on a barge that is manoeuvred betwe…
📖 Glossary
Class approval (plan approval)
Class approval, or plan approval, is the classification society’s review and stamping of the drawings and calculations for a vessel, offshore unit, conversion or modifi…
📖 Glossary
Stability booklet (trim and stability booklet)
A stability booklet is the class- and flag-approved document that gives a vessel’s master the lightship data, hydrostatics, tank capacities and worked loading condition…
📖 Glossary
Inclining experiment (lightship survey)
An inclining experiment measures a vessel’s lightship weight and vertical centre of gravity by shifting known weights across the deck and recording the resulting heel,…
📖 Glossary
Structural integrity management (SIM)
Structural integrity management is the ongoing process of assessing, inspecting, monitoring and, where necessary, strengthening an offshore structure so it stays fit fo…
📖 Glossary
FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit)
A floating storage and regasification unit is a moored LNG carrier — purpose-built or converted — that stores liquefied natural gas and vaporises it on board for export…
📖 Glossary
Well stimulation vessel (WSV)
A well stimulation vessel is an offshore support vessel fitted with high-pressure pumping, blending and acid or proppant storage systems to perform fracturing and acidi…
📖 Glossary
Transportation and installation (T&I)
Transportation and installation is the marine phase of an offshore project in which fabricated structures are loaded out, sea-fastened, transported and installed by lif…