DONUT Personal Escape Descent device

DONUT OFFSHORE – A Personal Controlled Descent Device for Tertiary Escape from an Offshore Installations when Conventional means are not possible.

Donut Personal Controlled Descent Device

The Patented Donut Personal Controlled Descent Device is the Offshore Industry standard, and was designed and developed in a response to the Piper Alpha tragedy with the cooperation of the UK Regulatory Authorities and the North Sea operators.

Donut is a simple, lightweight device designed as a tertiary means of escape from an Offshore Installation when Conventional means are not possible. It enables Personnel to escape by means of Individual Controlled Descent once the device has been attached to a handrail or other load bearing structure. It is easy to use and requires minimal physical effort.

Donut – Guided Escape to a Liferaft

The Donut has been designed to assist an evacuation to a Liferaft by incorporating a strop, which is attached to the Liferaft Painter Line prior to descent. The Painter Line acts as a guide, during descent, for easy entry into the Liferaft. The evacuee remains safely attached via the Donut Harness to the Painter Line throughout this operation alleviating the risk of being washed away when entering the water.

Conventional methods of Secondary/Tertiary Evacuation:

• Scramble nets are awkward and difficult to use and require periodic inspection.
• Knotted ropes are both physically and mentally very demanding to use, especially if the evacuee is wearing a Survival Suit or Life Jacket.
• Chutes are a fixed entity, which may be rendered inoperative if the cause of the emergency is in the area where the chute is situated.

Advantages of Donut over conventional methods of Evacuation:

• Donut is both lightweight and portable. It can be deployed from any safe area on the Platform or Installation.
• It can be used with any other combination of Survival equipment found onboard the Platform.
• Users do not have to wait their turn to use the equipment.
• It can be used during an escape to a Liferaft, where a strop is attached to the Liferafts Painter Line allowing a guided descent to the Liferaft, thus preventing the risk of being washed away once in the water.
• The user can lock off the Donut device above the water, awaiting Rescue remaining visible and more importantly dry.
• The Donut is fitted with a non-spark chemical Lightstick allowing the user to illuminate their descent or attract attention.

Click here to download the Donut Product Brochure

DONUT MARINE – Personal Descent Control Device for escape from FPSOs, FSUs and Vessels

 

The use of Floating Production and Offloading Systems is now a fundamental part of the offshore industry.

The DONUT Marine Personal Escape Descent device is the ultimate safety system for an evacuee. It offers the means of escape from very high structures in hostile environments and ever-changing conditions. This compact and unrestricting escape device is simple and sure.

With over 12,000 units sold and in service, the DONUT Personal Escape Device is established worldwide as the Industry Standard.

FPSOs, FSUs and Vessels have special needs, including the requirements to achieve effective evacuation escape and rescue in a variety of scenarios. In particular, the following issues must be addressed:

• LISTING – causing conventionally mounted lifeboats to become inoperative
• SMOKE – affecting helicopter operations
• ENTRAPMENT – at the bow end for entry into liferafts and the bridge wings or in the event of the main means of escape being rendered inoperative.

In the case of liferaft entry, it is virtually impossible for an evacuee to gain entry into a liferaft without the use of DONUT due to the opposition of wind and sea conditions.

DONUT Marine is ISO 9001 approved. It has ‘approval for use’ certification from all major international regulatory authorities, providing the operator with complete confidence.

Click here to download the Donut Product Brochure