technology
New technology needs a commercial rationale
Francis Wong: safe deck operation in heavy seas is very important
New technology is all very well, but it needs to provide owners and operators of OSVs with a commercial advantage, reduce costs and enhance safety
“ I
nnovation is among the most exciting aspects of the OSV market.” That was the bold assertion in the pre-conference literature as it set out the goals of a break- out session exploring technical updates and innovations. But it had a caveat: “What are the commercial implications?”
That technical/commercial balance is vital, suggested Riviera Maritime Media’s executive editor Paul Gunton during his opening remarks.
“Without a commercial benefit,
technical innovation has no value,” he said, and cited the session chairman’s company, IHC Merwede’s Offshore Division, as an example of an organisation that understood that balance.
IHC Merwede’s innovative, modular IHC Supporter vessel concept is designed specifically to cut construction costs and delivery schedules, a strategy that used technical
innovation to deliver tangible
commercial benefits, Mr Gunton suggested, as he introduced the shipbuilder’s product director, Cor van der Harst.
Mr van der Harst demonstrated that approach in his session introduction, explaining that his five-year outlook was based around “what our clients need to deliver
With that sort of prognosis, global
– more subsea wells, more fixed and floating platforms, more subsea trees and more pipelines.” That analysis, he said, provided optimism even though, at present, “we face a very tough market”.
On the other hand, he said, “the renewables
market is booming”. The next five years will see four times as many wind turbines installed as in the past five years, he predicted, with their associated cable-laying requirements, all generating business for offshore service vessel operators.
16 I Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference and Awards 2013
opportunities are not static, a theme developed by Jan van Os, product director for offshore and transport at Damen Shipyards, whose paper was titled OSV Development: A Shifting World. “Exploration for oil and gas is shifting to more challenging offshore environments,” he said, such as deep water offshore Brazil and Africa and more hazardous waters such as in the Arctic region.” As a result, he said, the design process for a new OSV is also changing and relies on teamwork between the operator and the yard “to achieve the optimum design at the lowest cost”. Quality and serviceability, however, must remain the focus of these efforts, he said, making the point that both capital expenditure (capex) cost and operational costs must be balanced in the design. “During the lifetime of the vessel operating costs are much higher than the initial cost of building the vessel,” he said, yet “we see that decisions in boardrooms are often based on
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