Ricerc@Sapienza

Offshore Oil&Gas is an industrial sector where risk assessment and management has a pivotal role. Moreover, the installation of Floating Production Storage and Off-loading units (FPSOs) in remote regions may hide the emergence of unexpected risks due to emergency and rescue difficulties caused by harsh climate. For this reason, the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) is committed to ensure appropriate safety monitoring and management within the petroleum sector.

The paper describes a measurement campaign carried out by means of GPS receivers installed on board of a moving sailboat and the application for the estimation of the local wave properties. The movements of the boat, as reconstructed using the present approach, may be used for many useful practical purposes, as for example the improvement of autopilots or for real time control systems of ships, to analyze and improve the performance of race sailboats, to estimate the local properties of the waves.