Abstract: The key challenge of managing Floating Production Storage and Offloading assets (FPSOs)
for offshore hydrocarbon production lies in maximizing the economic value and productivity, while
minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership and operational risk. This is a comprehensive task,
considering the increasing demands of performance contracting, (down)time reduction, safety and
sustainability while coping with high levels of phenomenological complexity and relatively low
product maturity due to the limited amount of units deployed in varying operating conditions.
Presently, design, construction and operational practices are largely influenced by high-cycle fatigue
as a primary degradation parameter. Empirical (inspection) practices are deployed as the key
instrument to identify and mitigate system anomalies and unanticipated defects, inherently a reactive
measure. This paper describes a paradigm-shift from predominant singular methods into a more
holistic and pro-active system approach to safeguard structural longevity. This is done through a short
review of several synergetic Joint Industry Projects (JIP’s) from different angles of incidence on
enhanced design and operations through coherent a-priori fatigue prediction and posteriori anomaly
detection and -monitoring.