Pipeline decommissioning: quantifying the risks to the commercial fishing industry

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.

Over 44,000 km of subsea pipelines have been installed in the North Sea to support oil and gas extraction, many of whichoccur within important commercial fishing grounds. This spatial overlap can lead to physical interaction between fishing gear and pipelines, with negative consequences for both pipeline integrity and commercial fishing operations. The risks posed by pipeline-fishing interactions will vary according to the type of pipeline, the nature of the fishing and the seabed substratum (soil conditions).

As the North Sea hydrocarbon basin matures, decisions must be made over whether to remove redundant pipelines from the seabed or to decommission them in situ. The risk of in situ decommissioning to fisheries is a major factor in pipeline decommissioning decisions. However, current fisheries risk assessments generally use fishing data with a low spatial and/or temporal resolution, and do not consider impacts beyond injuries and fatalities. Furthermore, the relative importance of the various snagging risk factors (gear type, soil condition), and how they translate to different outcomes when snagging occurs (e.g. injury or gear damage) are poorly understood within the North Sea.

Through this project, the PhD student will develop a fisheries snagging risk model for decommissioned pipelines in the North Sea basin by integrating high resolution satellite fisheries data with information on historical snagging events, pipeline properties and seabed type. They will then apply it to a basin-wide assessment of the fisheries risk and impacts of various pipeline decommissioning scenarios. The outputs will serve as a common evidence base to support the pipeline decommissioning comparative assessment process, facilitate stakeholder consultations, and increase the speed of regulatory decision making.

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in civil engineering, geotechnical engineering or offshore engineering.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php.

You should apply for PhD in Engineering to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project titleon the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the studentship.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.

Please note: you do not need to provide a research proposal with this application.

Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Professor A Ivanovic on a.ivanovic@abdn.ac.uk

If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at researchadmissions@abdn.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen

Additional research costs totalling £6,500 will be discussed prior to any offer being made. These are in addition to tuition fees and living expenses.