SIST EN ISO 35104:2020 PDF

Overview

SIST EN ISO 35104:2020 (ISO 35104:2018) specifies principles, requirements and guidance for ice management (IM) in Arctic and other cold regions characterized by low temperatures, sea ice, icebergs and icing. It addresses ice management from the perspectives of planning, engineering, implementation and documentation to support safe offshore petroleum and natural gas operations in remote, infrastructure‑limited environments.

This standard covers IM for a wide range of in‑ice activities including floating moored and dynamically positioned drilling and production vessels, construction and installation (trenching, dredging, pipe‑laying), tanker loading/offloading, seismic campaigns, oil spill response, protection of subsea structures, and bottom‑founded platforms. It also applies to mobilization, demobilization and construction support services. It does not cover coastal port operations or commercial transit/convoy shipping.

Key topics and technical requirements

The standard focuses on system-level requirements and guidance rather than detailed engineering formulas. Major topics include:

• Ice management system fundamentals: principles for establishing an IM system, required redundancy, and handling hazardous ice conditions.
• Ice management plan (IM plan): scope, implementation, maintenance and documentation requirements for operational plans.
• Ice alert systems and operational readiness: requirements for detection, alerting and decision support to protect personnel, assets and operations.
• Risk management and HSE: hazard identification, risk assessment, incident reporting and integration with health, safety, security and environment plans.
• Organizational functions and procedures: roles, communication, training and continuous improvement (safe learning).
• Data, monitoring and forecasting: metocean and ice parameters, data collection, quality, timeline categories (planning/strategic/tactical), nowcasts and weather‑window forecasting.
• Performance and maintenance: performance measures, monitoring, degradation handling, operating ice envelope and system improvement.

Note: ISO 35104 provides IM principles but does not prescribe ice‑load calculations or detailed structural design formulation-these are addressed in ISO 19906.

Practical applications and users

This standard is intended for organizations involved in Arctic and cold‑region offshore operations, including:

• Oil & gas operators and asset owners
• Offshore engineering and installation contractors
• Ice management service providers and escort/support vessel operators
• HSE, risk and emergency response teams (including oil spill responders)
• Regulators and project planners developing operational permits and IM plans

Use cases include preparing IM plans for drilling campaigns, setting up ice alerting and monitoring systems, developing operational readiness procedures for seasonal work, and integrating IM into site-specific risk assessments.

Related standards

• ISO 19906 - Arctic offshore structures (for ice load formulations and structural design guidance)

Keywords: ice management, Arctic operations, IM plan, ice alert, metocean forecasting, offshore petroleum, cold regions, risk management, ice monitoring.