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Advanced Chinese rig fitted with Kongsberg automation


MOL installs Ku-band VSAT on LNG carriers


The bridge of HYSY-981, housing the Kongsberg automation system controls


China’s first sixth generation DP3 drilling rig underwent final sea trials during the summer, with a sophisticated suite of technology including Kongsberg Maritime’s dynamic positioning, navigation, safety and automation systems on board. The 30,670gt HYSY-981, built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in China for China National Offshore Oil Corp, towers over 40 stories high, is 114m long and 79m wide. The Kongsberg K-Chief 700 marine automation system aboard HYSY-981 is based on distributed processing and data acquisition modules, where autonomous process control segments mirror the various process plants on the vessel. The automation systems scope on this project covers: ballast, bilge, machinery, general integrated control and monitoring system, power management, fire and gas, safety shutdown system and thruster control system. Also integrated is the Kongsberg K-Safe system for alarm monitoring and hazard control.


The system supports redundancy at all levels including operator stations, communication links, process controllers, input/output (I/O) modules and power supplies. The built-in self-diagnostic facilities monitor all system components and internal communication, and fail-safe mechanisms are automatically activated in case of any failure. According to Kongsberg, the distributed concept of the K-Chief 700 system enabled significant reductions in cost and time compared to traditional centralised systems. Remote I/O units were installed in switchboards, motor control centres and other electrical panels for electrical and mechanical packages, enabling pre- commissioning of the control system before shipment of the equipment to the yard. Significant cost reductions were also claimed due to extensive cabling reductions, effective installation and commissioning and reduced space requirements of the system.


New OTIS vessel tracking software being tested StratumFive has launched version 1.1 of its online tracking and information system OTIS in beta format for clients to test. This version should be commercially available by the end of this year and StratumFive is already testing the 1.2 version, says StratumFive’s managing director, Stuart Nicholls. “OTIS has several major new features, such as the ability of fleet owners to select data rapidly and the detail of the cartography. One key feature is the interface. Shipowners can find what they want quickly. Previous incarnations made it difficult to see the information,” said Mr Nicholls. “We have constructed OTIS to show all of the assets in an asset tree on the left hand side of the screen. We then have a data grid area that shows data relevant to the selected vessels


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and a map with the current position.” OTIS uses global maps and satellite images from Bing because of the speed of the zoom function. There is a function to see the previous route of a ship and link this with the observed weather reports. “Clients need information on ships quickly and data showing previous operations that can help with performance monitoring,” Mr Nicholls explained. “We have observed weather data coupled with position data. We are looking to improve the weather information in version 1.2. OTIS also shows any alerts over all of the fleet. It shows the ship position on a map, nautical chart and satellite image. The use of satellite images is good, for example when finding ship positions in ports and harbours.”


Mitsui OSK Lines will be deploying KVH Industries VSAT on three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers after a successful five month trial. The ships will use KVH’s global Ku-band mini-VSAT broadband service. This is being provided by KVH’s partner, SKY Perfect JSAT, under the OceanBB brand name. Japan Radio Co is responsible for installing and integrating KVH’s TracPhone V7 antennas on the LNG ships. The TracPhone V7 was installed for a trial on one of MOL’s LNG carriers in May 2011. MOL chose to adopt the system on these vessels to enhance business communications and the e-mailing of large files. MOL will also use the communications for access to weather, current, tidal, and ice information to optimise voyages. KVH will provide download speeds of 2 Mbps and uploads up to 1 Mbps, as well as voice over IP telephone lines through the mini-VSAT broadband solution.


Havyard develops new bridge systems


Norwegian offshore vessel builder Havyard Group has developed its own navigation and communications (NavCom) packages with the first installed on supply vessel Saeborg B102. The package includes radar, ecdis, and conning workstations, plus an echo sounder and autopilot. Also included in the bridge system is a voyage data recorder, AIS and GPS. Saeborg B102, owned by Garware, was outfitted at Havyard Ship Technology in Leirvik, Norway and was on sea trials in September.


Havyard has started offering the NavCom bridge within the ship design and system packages it delivers to shipyards and shipowners. The group can deliver the whole bridge system, from design and engineering to purchasing, installation and operational support to ships.


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More NavCom packages are being prepared further


vessel construction orders, said


Svein Olav Tørresdal, Havyard’s NavCom project manager: “It looks very promising, and the plan now is to continue this type of work on all new vessels from Havyard. We have already ordered equipment for the next three vessels [shipyard numbers] 102, 103 and 106.”


Aveva joins condition monitoring consortium Aveva has joined the OpenHCM (Hull Conditioning Monitoring) Consortium, an initiative to increase ship safety though the assessment data gained through ship operations. The consortium is developing ways to improve the efficiency of the electronic ›››


Marine Electronics & Communications


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