CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA), a global marine environmental consulting firm, recently completed an extensive Environmental Baseline Survey (EBS) offshore Mozambique for a major oil and gas company. The project scope involved water column monitoring, environmental sampling, seafloor imaging, air quality analysis, and the installation and recovery of metocean moorings. CSA provided all the necessary equipment, instrumentation, and field personnel, before chartering and mobilizing a dynamically positioned vessel.
This latest survey campaign is just one of several multidisciplinary projects in recent months that uses CSA’s Mitigation Suite approach to aid offshore developers in the identification of proactive measures to prevent, reduce, or offset any potentially negative marine environmental impacts associated with planned exploration and production (E&P) activities.
Over a 180-day period, CSA’s team of field operators and scientific subject matter experts conducted water column profiling, seawater sampling, plankton net tows, sediment coring, biodiversity observations, passive acoustic monitoring of vocalizing marine mammals, and a current analysis. CSA’s personnel also carried out air quality measurements using gravimetric and spectral absorbance methods to capture aerosolized particulates and gaseous contaminants. The validated data will now be examined for operator effectiveness and compliance over time.
“CSA prides itself on the planning and execution of comprehensive marine survey work scopes that support responsible offshore energy development through scientifically robust data analysis,” said Gordon Stevens, CSA’s President. “Over the past five years, CSA has managed more than 400 projects for offshore oil and gas companies around the globe, and it is this blend of operational experience and scientific expertise that places CSA in a unique position to help guide clients through the local environmental and regulatory landscape, while also prioritizing the need for sustainable E&P activities amid ballooning demand for energy around the world.”
In recent years, CSA has invested heavily in expanding its offshore survey equipment and ocean monitoring toolkit, including subsea imaging systems, acoustic Doppler current profilers, and other instruments for array deployment in waters from the shallows to ultra-deep sites. CSA is currently running several other similar long-term ocean monitoring campaigns around the globe, in waters offshore East Africa, West Africa, South America, and the Pacific Ocean.
“Investing in the latest technologies has always been a hallmark of CSA success over the last 55 years and goes hand in hand with developing best-in-class human resources,” added Mr. Stevens. “Access to our own long-lead equipment and with operators and scientists located at strategic international CSA locations, allows us to respond to customers’ evolving requirements in a timely and cost-effective manner.”