Floating offshore oil and gas platforms have varied geometry and behave differently than ships. Although there have been only a few accidents which have involved total loss there have been some notable ones. In the wake of these accidents there have been extensive investigations and industry action. For example, following the Ocean Ranger capsizing, in the mid 1980’s American Bureau of Shipping developed a response-based stability criterion. Unfortunately, it was limited to column stabilized units. The International Maritime Organization is testing the adoption of a response-based set of criteria for ships called the second-generation criteria. At the same time developments in ocean renewable energy will surely result in a wide range of new platforms geometries and additional considerations. With all this in mind it seems as though a more general response-based stability analysis procedure for floating offshore platforms should be considered. The proposed paper will review the background of ship stability analysis. It will describe the efforts undertaken to broaden those approaches to address the unique features of floating offshore platforms. It will review the more notable accidents which have occurred and how they might be avoided in the future. It will describe the efforts of the International Maritime Organization with respect to the Second-Generation Ship Stability Criteria. It will survey and predict the wide range of platforms for marine renewable energy and new issues which may arise. It will briefly review some of the research work being undertaken at Texas A&M and elsewhere in this area. Finally, it will conclude with what might need to occur in order for such a more general response-based vessel stability criteria to be developed for floating platforms.