Due to the environmental conditions the CALM buoy has to operate in, there are some difficulties which have to be considered during the design face of the buoy and the mooring system. One of the problems is that there is not yet much offshore activity in the arctic region so there is only limited information available. As for the soil there is not much known, so samples are needed to get sufficient data.

Next to the lack of information also the extremely low temperatures can cause different problems than known from other areas in the world. Due to the low air temperature icing of the buoy is possible, this can lead to a substantial increase of the weight of the buoy and influence the stability. To prevent damage to the buoy or to the mooring system, this needs to be considered during the design face.