Feature 5 | HELICOPTER HandLIng
Vessel motion breakthrough could
enhance helicopter ops
Working closely with the University of Delft and OceanWaves GmbH
in Germany, Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) has
developed a new type of vessel motion prediction system – the Onboard
Wave Motion Estimator (OWME).
T
he system can predict vessel
motions up to two minutes
ahead of actual motion, raising
the possibility of a host of potential
applications for the technology, including
enhancing helicopter operations from
offshore and naval vessels.
The ability to predict the motion of
vessels is of critical importance in a number
of sectors in the shipping industry, not least
in the offshore sector, where the viability
of certain types of operation depends very
heavily on wave-induced motions and on
the need for a short, quiescent period,
in which to conduct an operation safely.
Examples of operations such as these
include float-over-installation, and remote
operator vehicle (ROV) handling, but
another is landing take-off of helicopters,
which is also of central importance to The output from the HELIOS project could be used to enhance operability and safety
naval operations. levels for helicopters on warships.
In normal sea conditions, operations
such as these can only be conducted in
quiescent periods, and the ‘go – no-go’ and from the EUREKA, a pan-European an operation was possible but, although
decision for such operations is critical network for market-orientated research useful, such an approach has obvious
and requires a reliable estimation of vessel and development. limitations. “When we started working
motion. At present ship motions are In the past operators have relied on a seriously on the project, we wanted to
estimated by human observations, and statistical approach to determining whether predict vessel motion one minute in
by systems that extrapolate ship motion
history, but which can only predict motions
a Royal navy Lynx
some 10 seconds in advance.
Mk 8 helicopter
As MARIN’s project leader, Henk van
aboard HMS
den Boom explained that MARIN has
Grafton is tied
been working on the concept for several
down after landing.
years, having first been prompted to look
at the idea because of issues relating to
LNG offloading operations. The work
has been conducted as a Joint Industry
Project (JIP) supported by StatoilHydro,
Total, SBM/Gusto, Seaflex, Sirehna and
the above-mentioned development
partners. Funding for the OWME project
was secured from the Dutch government
44 Warship Technology May 2009
p44-45_WT_May09.indd 44 17/04/2009 15:26:17
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