Uniquely, OSC invests a large proportion of our profits into scientific and technical R&D, publishing in high-calibre peer-reviewed journals every year intended to influence marine policy and permit/licence decisions with evidence-based investigations; therefore, our clients ultimately fund this endeavour indirectly when they contract our commercial services. This is extraordinarily rare in the industry sector. With the exception of the defence sector, every client of OSC has eventually agreed to waive Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), enabling OSC to publish its research and associated findings in top scientific peer-reviewed journals. OSC has published research on echolocation, distribution, and diel behaviour of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), marine mammal distribution in relation to oceanographic features, underwater noise generated by offshore operations, impacts of drilling and dredging activities on marine mammals, acoustic propagation modelling, fish school dynamics around tidal turbines, and much more.

Decommissioning

Our core research Rigs-to-Reefs (RTR) decommissioning programme indicates strongly that offshore installations/structures provide reliable feeding habitats for marine mammals and their prey and the Oslo and Paris Convention (OSPAR) have been following our RTR research since 2004. We have performed (and published, if released from NDA) a plethora of field studies for a consortium of O&G clients. Among OSC’s work on RTR research are the first ever published record of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) imagery of marine mammals around offshore structures, showing that seals follow subsea pipelines, and ROV-derived record of marine biota associated with a new offshore production platform prior to and following installation. In addition, we have published data from an established platform showing evidence of on-jacket reproduction.