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OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Information in general is being centralised. The Met Office is a hub for accurate weather information. Similarly the Highways Agency co-ordinates complex logistical projects. The offshore energy industry is an obvious candidate for further modernisation.
Firstly asset management becomes much more efficient. Secondly and very importantly, management functions and physical operations can be separated. This paves the way for new super-MC hubs.
GERMAN PROJECT IN SAXONY In Germany, GMS is working closely with Offshore Marine Management (OMM) on its strategy for a new MCC facility at Cuxhaven near the mouth of the Elbe River.
The result is likely to be a digital hub that combines GMS with major OMM infrastructure developments on a 12,000 m3 prime site offering direct water access, including a ro-ro ramp. This combination would link two cost-saving concepts.
The first is for 2nd and 3rd tier service companies to work together on critical offshore wind farm Inspection Maintenance and Repair (IMR) in a way that companies alone cannot achieve.
OMM would provide flexible space for goods handling, vessel requirements - including harbour master interface - customs and security needs.
HM COASTGUARD PRECEDENT HM Coastguard set a precedent in September 2014 by opening a new state- of-the-art National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) near Fareham.
By the end of 2015, 96 separate Coastguards based at the Hampshire hub will work with 10 other centres nationally to create a much bigger, better and more responsive support network for the whole UK.
Responding to criticisms over data centralisation, the NMOC comments that a reliance on local knowledge in the past resulted in ‘less than brilliant’ outcomes.
ROAM’S LEADING EDGE
To help MC achieve the digital leap, GMS has developed its ROAM (Real-time Offshore Asset Management) system.
The operative term is ‘real-time’ and ROAM now comes as standard with all GMS MC projects.
The system tracks changes to the working status of men, machinery and boats as they happen – with two implications.
Crucially, the second would be to operate a single MCC for all companies involved, explains OMM’s CEO, Rob Grimmond: “Our aim is setting higher safety standards as a new base level for every company involved,” he says. “We would expect GMS to play an advanced role here.
And adds, “The new onsite MCC is designed to control all vessel and personnel movements associated with partner companies. It will also co-ordinate other key tasks, such as a single point for people, equipment and vessel safety and competency verifications.
WIND INDUSTRY STEP-CHANGE “Working with GMS, we think this progressive approach is unique and a step-change for the offshore wind industry, he notes.
“It will provide an additional MCC prior to the wind farm MCC which we are confident will raise minimum HSE standards. Ultimately, we want to remove this duplication and deliver additional cost efficiencies beyond the immediate HSE improvements. We think GMS’s approach will help us.” Rob concluded.
SUB-CONTRACTOR VIEW Would offshore sub-contracting firms use a central MCC on a project-by-project in much the same way that they routinely refer to the Met office for weather?
GMS has asked Sgurr Energy if such a service would be of interest and under what conditions?
“Yes it would,” says Project Manager, Allan Drewette. “For small, infrequent single vessel operations, for example met mast maintenance, marine co-ordination is not strictly necessary. However, safety is paramount and anything that improves safety offshore should be considered for a project.
And adds, “The difficulty comes in finding an existing marine co-ordinator (perhaps for a wind farm) who is happy to accommodate another vessel that may have completely different emergency response procedures, or attempting to setup a temporary marine co-ordinator for the duration of the works.”
CHALLENGES?
We also asked what the MCC challenges might be from a Sgurr Energy viewpoint? “Presumably there would need to be some level of commonality to the emergency response for the various vessels - which may be from various operators - controlled by the co-ordinator, Drewette suggests.
“Each operator would need to agree to the form of the emergency response and disseminate that effectively to their crews. One of the biggest challenges we have encountered is the communications difficulties associated with far offshore work.
“When working beyond normal VHF range, an alternative communication method is required. Not all vessels will be equipped with long range comms (such as MF-SSB), so other systems such as satellite comms may need to be utilised. However, they come with their own challenges,” Allan concluded.
These points are crucial but have established technical solutions.
Green Marine Solutions Click to view more info
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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