What is DNV-RP-F107?
DNV-RP-F107 (Risk Assessment of Pipeline Protection) is the recommended practice published by DNV that defines a structured methodology for assessing the risk of damage to subsea pipelines and other underwater installations from dropped objects, dragged anchors, and trawl gear.
The methodology is widely adopted across the offshore oil and gas industry as the de-facto standard for quantifying the consequences of dropped object hazards during marine lifting operations.
Why use software to apply DNV-RP-F107?
Manual or spreadsheet-based implementations of DNV-RP-F107 face three structural limitations:
- Spatial resolution: Concentric ring approximations average risk across large bands (typically 10m wide), losing the fine spatial detail needed for accurate target intersection.
- Aggregation complexity: Aggregating drops from multiple lifts, drop points, and object types becomes intractable in a spreadsheet once a study has more than a few sources.
- Reproducibility: Manual workflows are difficult to audit, version, and rerun when inputs change late in a project.
DORAS resolves these by implementing the calculation as a Monte Carlo simulation on a configurable grid, with all inputs and outputs persisted in a structured database.
How DORAS implements DNV-RP-F107
DORAS implements every step of the DNV-RP-F107 methodology end-to-end:
- Drop frequency — derived from lift counts, lift type, and reference tables (editable per study).
- Hit frequency — calculated per grid cell from drop distribution and target geometry.
- Damage frequency — categorised damage frequencies (None, Minor, Moderate, Major) using object kinetic energy and target capacity.
- Release frequency — annual frequency of fluid release from damaged targets, supporting downstream consequence analysis.
For full calculation detail see the methodology documentation.
Frequently asked questions
What is DNV-RP-F107?
DNV-RP-F107 (Risk Assessment of Pipeline Protection) is the recommended practice published by DNV that defines methodology for assessing the risk of damage to subsea pipelines and other underwater installations from dropped objects, dragged anchors, and trawl gear interaction.
What software implements DNV-RP-F107?
DORAS is a web-based platform that implements the full DNV-RP-F107 calculation methodology, including drop frequency, hit frequency, damage frequency, and release frequency calculations on a configurable grid (typically 1m × 1m) using Monte Carlo simulation.
How does DORAS differ from spreadsheet-based DNV-RP-F107 tools?
DORAS uses a 1m grid resolution (100 times finer than the 10m concentric rings used by traditional implementations) and aggregates drops from multiple sources within a single integrated model. Results are visualised on interactive maps rather than rendered in static spreadsheet tables.
What outputs does the DNV-RP-F107 calculation produce?
The methodology produces annual hit frequency (object hitting target), damage frequency (target damaged by category), and release frequency (fluid release from damaged target), reported per target and aggregated across the study area.