To explore offshore oil fields in deep water the use of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit coupled to a shuttle tanker is economically and technically feasible. The FPSO unit normally consists of a ship shaped hull, with an internal or external turret, and production equipment on the deck. The unit is also equipped for crude oil storage. Oil transportation systems required for supporting this infrastructure are pipelines or shuttle tankers. Shuttle tankers are increasingly being accepted as a preferred transportation method for remote and deepwater offshore developments. The offloading operation is considered one of the most risky operations in offshore environments. This dissertation presents a risk-based analysis method aiming at defining the risk profile associated with an offloading operation. For offloading operations the risk profile is usually