Abstract: The invention provides a method of detecting seawater contamination from an offshore hydrocarbon well facility comprising seabed wellheads connected by hydrocarbon conduits to a seabed pipeline head from which a hydrocarbon pipeline leads to a remote hydrocarbon receiving facility, each said wellhead being provided with a protective cover to which is removably attached a sensor unit, each said sensor unit comprising a biological sensor and a data transmitter coupled by a data transmission line to said remote facility, said well facility further comprising a seawater velocity sensor, a seawater conductivity sensor and a temperature sensor also coupled by a data transmission line, wherein data from said data transmission line is analysed to determine indicia of seawater contamination at said well facility and of the seawater flow at said well facility and thereby to provide a signal indicative of seawater contamination above a preselected limit deriving from said well facility.

Abstract: A method of determining the effect of a spill on a marine environment, in which physical and chemical sensors are arranged with living organisms (4, 6) fitted with instruments, at an appropriate distance and position from the object (1) which is to be monitored, wherein the response of the living organism (4, 6), measured online in real time, is compared with known patterns of response, and where upstream and downstream measurements are compared to determine whether a change in response may be caused by a spill from the object, the significance of the real time measurements being validated through sampling of the organisms on a regular basis or as required, in order to analyze the effects on the health of the organisms, biomarkers, for the purpose of assessing the significance of the environmental effect.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of detecting contamination in an aqueous mass in the vicinity of an operation and indicating the source of the contamination, the method comprising detecting signals which may be indicative of aqueous contamination using a plurality of sentinel species containing sensor units disposed in the aqueous mass in the vicinity, relaying data relating to the signals to an analyser, analysing data received by the analyser, and relaying an analysis result indicative of the existence, severity and source of the contamination to an operator, wherein the method also comprises relaying further data to the analyser selected from data in the group consisting of data relating to the performance of the operation, data relating to environmental releases in the vicinity by parties other than the operator, data relating to the topography of the vicinity, and third party data relating to the properties of the aqueous mass in the vicinity.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of detecting seawater contamination from an offshore hydrocarbon well facility comprising seabed wellheads connected by hydrocarbon conduits to a seabed pipeline head from which a hydrocarbon pipeline leads to a remote hydrocarbon receiving facility, each said wellhead being provided with a protective cover to which is removably attached a sensor unit, each said sensor unit comprising a biological sensor and a data transmitter coupled by a data transmission line to said remote facility, said well facility further comprising a seawater velocity sensor, a seawater conductivity sensor and a temperature sensor also coupled by a data transmission line, wherein data from said data transmission line is analysed to determine indicia of seawater contamination at said well facility and of the seawater flow at said well facility and thereby to provide a signal indicative of seawater contamination above a preselected limit deriving from said well facility.

Abstract: A method of determining the effect of a spill on a marine environment, in which physical and chemical sensors are arranged with living organisms (4, 6) fitted with instruments, at an appropriate distance and position from the object (1) which is to be monitored, wherein the response of the living organism (4, 6), measured online in real time, is compared with known patterns of response, and where upstream and downstream measurements are compared to determine whether a change in response may be caused by a spill from the object, the significance of the real time measurements being validated through sampling of the organisms on a regular basis or as required, in order to analyze the effects on the health of the organisms, biomarkers, for the purpose of assessing the significance of the environmental effect.