scope:

Foreword

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This Guide provides a road map for our clients for documenting technical requirements related to classification for compliance with verification obligations associated with operation of mobile offshore units on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and applying for an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) which is mandatory for operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

ABS has been appointed as a Recognized Organization (RO) for Mobile Offshore Units by the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD) and thereby authorized to perform on it's behalf technical verification, inspection and surveys for the delegated items concerning Mobile Offshore Units which are or will be registered in a Norwegian Ship Register.

Irrespective of flag, for the purpose of this Guide, Appendix 1 (as applicable) and the relevant parts of the delegated items (see Appendix 2) will form part of the technical verification permitted by Chapter 1 Section 3 of the Framework Regulations to contribute towards the application for an AoC. It is to be noted that the NMD references in this Guide do not imply full compliance with Norwegian Flag.

The Guide describes NCS-related services provided by ABS for the following types of mobile offshore units and systems:

• Drilling Units

• Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units

• Accommodation Units (applicable parts of Chapter 3, Section 1)

• Drilling Systems, and

• Hydrocarbon Production and Process Facilities

The Guide contains the following three Chapters:

• Conditions of Classification

• Verification Methodology

• N-Notations

The effective date of this Guide is 1 March 2009.