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CELEBRATING OSJ’s 20TH ANNIVERSARY
Spanish yards: diversification and deliveries continue Crunch time: is the subsea market on the path to recovery? Wavecraft voyager takes on the helicopter monopoly
“There are ambitious plans across most Middle East countries in terms of new field development..[which should] translate into increased demand for jack ups and OSVs” Thom Payne, group director, Westwood Global Energy, see page 15
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June 2018
contents
Regulars
Head of Content: Edwin Lampert t: +44 20 8370 7017 e: edwin.lampert@rivieramm.com
volume 21 issue 5
3 INDUSTRY COMMENT 44 IMCA NEWS
Area reports 4 Caspian Sea: The region has its own challenges and success in this environment 8 Australasia: LNG extraction is the current hot topic in Australia, but in New Zealand the government has decided not to issue any more offshore exploration licences
Legal matters: vessel enforcement 14 Cooperation on enforcement is key for lenders to avoid value destruction
Dynamic positioning 17 New controls are improving dynamic positioning in the offshore sector
Propulsion and thrusters 20 What options are available to those hoping to take advantage of new opportunities
Communications 23 Upgraded modems, tri-band antennas and access to HTS connectivity means offshore vessel operators should be well-placed to meet future data and broadband challenges
UUVs and UAVs 26 Safer and often more efficient than human involvement, the latest developments in the field of unmanned craft
Special reports 28 Spanish shipbuilding: Spanish yards are diversifying to take advantage of new business 31 Turkish shipbuilding: It’s been a tough few years for the Turkish shipping industry
Bulk handling and tank cleaning 34 With so few tanks being used, the tank cleaning industry has struggled for work of late
Subsea market update 36 There is a cautious optimism in the offshore subsea sector
Newbuilding and deliveries 38 Despite a strong oil price the recovery in offshore will be slow
Operator profile 40 Umoe Mandal’s Wavecraft competes directly with helicopters on levels of safety, comfort, fuel efficiency and cost for offshore logistics, but does it measure up?
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Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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RELENTLESS DETERMINATION
INDUSTRY COMMENT | 3
STOP KNOCKING KNOCK-FOR-KNOCK
I Ian Perrott, Independent Offshore Marine Consultant
t would be hard to think of a less inspiring topic to discuss than charterparties, unless it was the liability and indemnity regime the charterparties contain. However, for those who know me, then choosing this to be my topic for discussion will come as no surprise. As I am not a lawyer, I see such things through the eyes of someone with a chartering and commercial background and with a view to its practical application. We all spend a lot of time reviewing contracts to identify the scope of their knock-for-knock (kfk) provisions and what exceptions and limitations they contain, but how often do we stand back and ask why we use kfk across the offshore industry? Would a legal liability regime serve the industry better, or even a hybrid of the two? These are legitimate questions. Over the past few years, I’ve had the good fortune to better understand the reasoning behind the industry using kfk and it is this understanding that has led me to the conclusion that no other regime would work as well, and for the benefit of the industry as a whole, as kfk does. Rather than analysing the principles of kfk, it may be easier to understand by considering the implications of a legal liability regime being applied across the offshore industry. Imagine an offshore industry where openness and transparency were not possible, where joint investigations were not allowed by underwriters, where every action had to be considered against the possibility of being sued and where being held to be liable was the norm rather than the exception. Imagine scenarios where each item of cargo
“There is no guaranteed outcome when entering into a court case”
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was required to have a declared value, where bills of lading were needed, Hague-Visby rules applied and where cargo surveyors and insurers had a say in what was and was not allowed. Imagine the time and resources your company would have to devote to continually running several court cases and arbitrations, the additional personnel required and the adverse publicity that could surround the loss of a case. These issues would impact equally on both owners and charterers. By its very nature, offshore can be a high-risk industry in terms of lives, injuries, damage and loss of equipment and property. Consequential losses can extend the financial risks to all parties, as can punitive damages in those jurisdictions where they may be allowed. There is no such thing as a guaranteed outcome when entering into any court case, but unless you admit liability from the outset (something your underwriters would not be happy about), then living with the vagaries of the law would have to become the norm. Because another party's liability and negligence can never be assumed, then everyone and everything would have to be double insured to account for the possibility that either party could be held liable in the event of a claim. None of this is to say that a legal liability regime could not work in the offshore industry, only that its impact would make it less efficient and more expensivefor everyone. Being both limited by space and time, I can only touch on a few of the reasons why I firmly believe a kfk regime to be central to the maintenance of an efficient, flexible, cost effective and transparent offshore industry. There are plenty of other reasons, such as certainty of outcome, the absence of blame and the avoidance of disputes that I see as advantages, but as the offshore industry begins to emerge from some very dark times, I hope that it rebuilds itself so that kfk remains central to its way of doing business. OSJ Ian Perrott heads Independent OSV Consultancy. He can be reached at ianperrott@aol.com
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
4 | AREA REPORT Caspian Sea
CHALLENGES OF THE CASPIAN’S SHALLOWS THE PECULIARITIES OF EXPLORATION IN THE CASPIAN SEA REQUIRE CONSTANT INNOVATION. BUT AS SELWYN PARKER REPORTS, THE REWARDS ARE WORTH THE EFFORT
K
azakhstan-based Kazmortransflot (KMTF) recently took delivery of the Barys, a specialised multifunctional vessel it ordered to transport cargo in the shallower waters of the northern Caspian. Unique in the region, the Barys has a draught of just 4 m, despite a length of 113 m and a width of 21 m. Even with such a low draught, the vessel can carry up to 5,000 tonnes. That’s the kind of workhorse that is needed in these inland waters, lying well below sea level. And as exploration hots up once
again in the region, KMTF is making sure it is ready for current and future contracts. The group has two more of these multipurpose vessels on the way.
Challenging
With production of about 6M barrels of equivalent oil a day, the Caspian is becoming one of the busiest regions in the world for the offshore support industry. After a few years of uncertainty, there is now more upstream activity than has been seen in a long time; these include the big project at Azerbaijan, located 100 km east of Baku in the largest oil field in this sector of the Caspian Basin, Lukoil’s gas plants in Uzbekistan and higher production in the offshore Kashagan field in the Kazakhstan zone. These major projects, among others, are driving demand for every kind of technical support. As well as being one of the busiest hydrocarbon-hunting regions, the Caspian is also one of the most challenging. Bounded by Kazakhstan to the north-east (where the most promising and accessible reserves lie), Russia to the north-west, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the South and Turkmenistan to the south-east, this elongated sea stretches for nearly 1,200 km, is 430 km wide and,
Norwegian shipyard Vard specialises in support vessels like the Far Superior, similar to vessels deployed in the Caspian
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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Caspian Sea AREA REPORT | 5
at an area of 386,420 km, is larger than Japan. The water freezes periodically, which makes life difficult for offshore rigs, while being so remote from export markets increases transport costs. To make things even harder, the Caspian’s underwater topography varies greatly, posing thorny technical problems for the industry. Although the mean depth is just over 210 m, the deepest part is 1024 m below the surface, while the shallowest – in the northern Caspian – has an average depth of around 6 m. The sea’s complex geology also presents serious challenges for drilling crews. The bottom of the northern Caspian dates back at least 541M years, while the seabed in the middle Caspian is a hydrocarbon hunter’s nightmare because parts of it are still moving.
Relief
Perhaps because of these challenges, veteran operators have developed a special expertise in the region. And the resumption of activity has come as a relief to offshore support companies such as Dubai-based Topaz Energy and Marine, for which the Caspian has long been a stronghold. As chief executive, René Kofod-Olsen pointed out earlier this year: “We believe the worst of the downturn is now behind us. While 2018 will be challenging, the number of projects being commissioned is increasing.” Topaz has turned to its advantage the well-documented oversupply of offshore support vessels in the downturn. As prices for idle vessels fell, the group snapped up ships on the cheap, updating its 100-strong fleet which now boasts an average age of about nine years. “We are constantly optimising our fleet, divesting aging and non-strategic tonnage to focus on mid- to high-end offshore support vessels (OSV),” explained Mr. Kofod-Olsen, in the annual report for last year. “These are more versatile and can address a wide range of our client’s needs,” he noted. In 2017, even though oil prices were still in a slump, Topaz was brave enough to splash US$115M on two subsea vessels commissioned from the Vard yard, the Norwegian-based group with nine ship-building facilities worldwide. Further highlighting the renewed activity in the Caspian, on the back of a US$500M contract in Kazakhstan, the group ordered from Vard the construction of 15 new module-carrying vessels designed for shallow river systems. Not to be left behind in terms of innovation, Kazakhstan’s KMTF has just put to work three Damen-built, low-draught tugs that will undertake work such as towing, anchor dropping and handling, and navigational assistance in the shallow waters of the Kazakh section of the inland sea. As KMTF’s chief executive notes: “The distinguishing feature of these tugboats is the increased demand for capacity at limited depth, which [requires] limited dimensions.” Known appropriately as the Shoalbuster 2709, the tugs are 27 m long, with a beam of 9 m and a draught of just 2.6 m. Although the Shoalbuster is far from the biggest tugboat in the world, it can carry a 5.5-tonne crane and boasts a bollard pull of 41.2 tonnes.
Dredging
As you might expect in shallow waters, there is a premium on dredgers. In response, Van Oord, the Netherlands-based specialist, has deployed a Damen-built 60 m long CSD 650 custom suction dredger in the Caspian. Named the Ural River, the vessel was modified for special duties; originally designed for sheltered water, it was given a bow to make it suitable for coastal operations and was equipped with extra tanks that enable it to operate without support for long periods in remote locations.
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The Emba, one of three new shallow-water tugs deployed in the Caspian by Kazmortransflot
As contracts piled up, Van Oord also put to work another innovative dredger, the Modular Multi Cat 2210, featuring a remarkably low draught of less than 1 m. Chartered from Damen Marine Services, the 22 m vessel was rushed into service to support one of the marine contractor’s bigger dredgers. In another illustration of the challenges posed by the Caspian Sea – in this case its remoteness – the Modular Multi Cat was built in sections and transported by road to its future home, instead of being sailed there. “We can load the whole lot onto trucks and drive it to Kazakhstan in about 12 days,” explained Damen design engineer Freek Haagmans. “The sea route, on the other hand, would have taken about six weeks for such a vessel.” But a dredger in a remote location is not much use without rapid support vessels. To deliver crew to the Ural River, Van Oord uses a Damen Fast Crew Supplier 1605, capable of carrying 23 passengers and with a top speed of 30 knots.
Top contract
In another encouraging development, highlighting the revival of the Caspian, March saw Aberdeen-based Subsea 7 book a key contract in the region – a five-year arrangement with BP Exploration to provide subsea inspection, repair and maintenance services in two giant fields: the Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater parts of the Gunashli field, as well as in the Shah Deniz fields; the former field lies 120 km east of Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital city. Supported by a Baku-based project management and engineering team, Subsea 7 includes the provision of a life-of-field support vessel, equipped with work-class and observation-class remotely operated underwater vehicles. The long-term prospects for BP and its suppliers here could hardly be better. The oil giant and its partners have extended their contract with the Azerbaijan government until 2049, in what is a major offshore supply operation. Projects like these require a fleet of support vessels: two highspeed crew transfer boats ferry a workforce of more than 1,000 from the shore to six production platforms, as well as to a couple of processing and utilities platforms located in the field. The fleet also includes eight supply vessels, three support vessels and three tugboats. The supply vessels are always on the go, bringing people, food, equipment and anything else necessary to the platforms on a regular basis. To make sure that marine traffic is moving safely
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
6 | AREA REPORT Caspian
around the platforms,high-tech monitoring systems cover the 10,350 km2 of BP’s centre of operations in the Caspian, an area roughly the size of Jamaica.
Reliability
In the offshore supply industry, reliability is everything. In this unforgiving environment, Athens-based CMI Offshore has deployed its ultra-shallow draught ice-class tug, the CM Wulf for nearly a decade.But the region is tough on infrastructure, whether based on or offshore, and after nine years of sterling service, the Wulf has been sold to Russian interests for work in the Arctic ports in the north of the country. CMI Offshore, which owns and operates a 25-vessel fleet, plus one barge, in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, constantly updates its sea-going assets. Typically among offshore support companies, it provides vessels for drilling and production support, one flat-top barge and four shallow-draught ships for further offshore, including three of Damen’s Shoalbusters and one or two ultra-shallow tugs. Given the wildly varying depths of the Caspian, flexibility is key to staying busy in the region. CMI Offshore can deploy three shallow-draught ferries – that is, less than 1.5 m draught – capable of 30 knots. In the Caspian, it always seems to come back to shallow draught vessels.
Getting there
The remoteness of the region presents special, but not insuperable, difficulties for the offshore supply industry, as Damen proved with the transport of the Modular Multi Cat for the Van Oord group. First, you have got to get the vessels there. As Topaz Marine
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
explains: “Due to the nation’s geography there are significant physical barriers to entry, which makes it difficult and costly to mobilise equipment into the region.” Normally, offshore supply vessels can only be sailed or towed via the Volga Baltic or Volga Don rivers and their respective canal systems, both of which present seasonal restrictions. For instance, they usually freeze over between November and March. On top of that, a vessel designed specifically for service in the Caspian may be ruled illegal for the journey from the shipyard to its intended destination. It is not all red tape though; restrictions often apply due to the depth of the canals and/or the capacity of the locks and bridges. Further complicating matters, Russia may slap on hefty extra charges and fees if a vessel has been modified or flagged in any other country. Along the way, other governments may insist on a range of inspections, authorisations and approvals, plus an imaginative range of fees. As Topaz has noted: “These restrictions represent high logistical and financial barriers to entry and have led to the offshore supply vessel market in the Caspian region becoming highly concentrated, with only nine OSV suppliers.” Because of its vast potential however, the Caspian is a region that no oil major can ignore. In late April, BP and SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, signed a new 25year production-sharing agreement, under which they will go hydrocarbon-hunting in another area, the so-called North Absheron basin, lying about 135 km north-east of Baku. Previously unexplored, the basin is definitely not in shallow waters; depth ranges between 400-600 m, with anticipated reservoir depths of about 3,500 m. If BP strikes oil there, it looks like the industry will have to dust off its deep-water vessels. OSJ
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OFFSHORE
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WWW.DAMEN.COM
8 | AREA REPORT Australasia
Gas fuels Australia’s OSV Speak to anyone involved in offshore support operations in Australia and the talk soon turns to the country’s LNG extraction work and its knock-on benefits to a diverse fleet of support vessels. The contrast with New Zealand is stark, where the coalition government has decided not to issue any more offshore exploration licences Shell’s Prelude and other major projects have created LNG-related work for OSVs (credit: Shell)
A
ustralia is the world’s secondlargest LNG exporter after Qatar and could move into first place once two new LNG extraction projects come on stream: Inpex’s Ichthys project will start production in June and Shell’s Prelude will follow towards the end of the year. As a result, LNG’s significance is recognised and accepted in Australia. MMA Offshore business development manager Stuart Edgar provided some additional context when she mentioned two other schemes to OSJ, saying that “Chevron’s decision to proceed with the second stage of the Gorgon expansion and Woodside’s Scarborough development plans are testaments to its importance.” He also remarked on the potential for LNG as an alternative fuel for OSVs, describing it as “a space of growing interest” that “we are in constant conversations with our clients over.” This could also offer potential new business opportunities for the company, he suggested, which operates 33 OSVs. “Local operators [are] exploring small scale LNG bunker vessel solutions [and] these are markets MMA Offshore is following closely, as we see significant
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
growth potential in the medium to long term in the Australasian region,” he said. Last year, Shell’s Prelude FLNG spawned a new type of OSV, called an infield support vessel (ISV ) and based on Robert Allan’s advanced rotor tug ART 100-42 design, incorporating Robert Allan’s RAstar hullform and three azimuth propulsion units – two astern and one amidships. Three of these units were built by ASL Marine Holdings for KT Maritime Services Australia, a joint venture between Kotug International and Teekay Shipping Australia. More details of the project were included in OSJ last year, when KT Maritime Services commercial director Osman Munir explained that the ISVs assist LNG tankers berthing alongside the FLNG’s manifolds to take on cargo. Two of the ISVs, sailing stern first, will establish a towline connection, one at the bow and one at the stern. As the tanker is brought alongside the FLNG, the ISVs will act as pusher tugs to hold the tanker against the side of the FLNG. This protocol is not new, but standard stern-drive tugs can only do this in good weather conditions, the operator said. Another offshore vessel owner
looking at FLNG is Swiber Holdings, which signed a non-binding agreement about a proposed acquisition of Australia’s Interlink Power & Energy that could see it enter this market. Swiber has been under judicial management since October 2016 and, at the end of March, it was granted an extension to this arrangement until 30 June by the Singapore High Court, where Swiber is based. At the same time, the company announced that discussions with Interlink “remain ongoing and the parties have … agreed in writing to extend the current long-stop date … to 30 September 2018.” Swiber has previously said that this deal “could be a step towards reviving the company as a going concern.” Turning the focus away from LNG, reveals a less optimistic mood. Australia’s offshore support sector “is awash with restructuring, renegotiations and consolidations,” Mr Edgar told OSJ. “Many operators are still heavily geared, so we anticipate this to continue into the near future,” he added. Offshore Australia founder and managing director Henk Merbis echoed her concerns. “The tide is still going
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Australasia AREA REPORT | 9
out,” he said. “The industry is picking up on hype only.” Contracting and pricing “are very difficult as the big boys know the smaller guys are merely surviving and will take any work at any price to boost utilisation rates,” the consultant told OSJ. He spoke of vessels being brought out
of cold stacking speculatively, prompting others to do the same; ‘speculating on the speculation’, he termed it. Operators are in financial difficulties and one has ‘handed vessels back’, he said. “The big unknown factor is how patient banks will be with vessel valuations,” he warned. “Hopefully,
vessel prices will pick up soon, as many companies have inflated balance sheets due to historic vessel valuations.” A lot of developments need to happen to produce a sustainable new market boost he said, but “the surviving operators are ready; it is just a matter of when.”
New Zealand backs away from oil and gas New Zealand’s coalition government will not issue any more permits for offshore oil and gas exploration. In a statement issued on 12 April, the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the move was “an important step to address climate change and create a clean, green and sustainable future for New Zealand.” All 22 existing offshore exploration permits will continue – some of them extend until 2030 – and Ms Ardern spoke of “a just transition to a clean energy future.” She said that all three parties in the coalition “are agreed that we must take this step as part of our package of measures to tackle climate change.” Climate change policies were part of an agreement to bring
the New Zealand First party into the coalition and Ms Ardern noted its support in “ensuring the transition away from fossil fuels protects jobs and helps regions equip themselves for the future.” New Zealand’s opposition National party described the decision as “economic vandalism that makes no environmental sense.” Its energy and resources spokesman Jonathan Young said it was “devoid of any rationale.” It will mean fewer jobs and will not affect climate change, he said. “Gas is used throughout New Zealand to ensure security of electricity supply to every home in New Zealand. Our current reserves will last less than 10 years [and] when they run out we will simply have to burn coal instead, which means twice the emissions.”
REPORT DUE ON OPEN-DECK SAFETY DEVICE A new report has been compiled by MMA Offshore, which operates a fleet of 33 OSVs, in response to an accident off Western Australia in July 2015 in which a crewmember suffered fatal injuries when securing deck cargo in poor weather. In its incident report, the Australia Transport Safety Board (ATSB) said that two large waves came over the vessel's open stern, shifting some unsecured containers and crushing one of the crew against other items in the deck. The vessel's managers took action to avoid a similar accident, which the ATSB said “adequately addressed the safety issues related to cargo handling/securing in adverse weather.” But it issued a safety advisory notice to highlight the risks posed by open-stern vessels and MMA’s initiative is intended to address those concerns. MMA Offshore general manager fleet operations Australasia Richard Furlong told OSJ that, with industry support from three
major oil and gas companies, it had developed what it calls a Wave Breaker Safety System (WBSS). The project “combines MMA Offshore’s innovation and safety culture with the aim of delivering a safer workplace on board open-stern vessels,” he said. The WBSS consists of a flexible mesh barrier that reduces the volume and force of green water entering the back deck and will incorporate an advanced alarm system. Several in-field trials have been conducted on MMA Offshore vessels and a study and testing programme has been completed by the University of New South Wales Water Research Laboratory. In early May, the WBSS underwent its final testing stages at the laboratory, during which a presentation was made to the industry support group. • Read the ATSB accident report and safety advisory via http://bit.ly/OSJ-SkanPac
A WBSS would be rigged near the aft end of an open stern deck (credit: MMA Offshore)
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Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
10 | AREA REPORT Australasia
Crew transfer vessels could replace helicopters Crew transfer vessels such as this one are competitive with helicopters (Credit: Austal)
Chris Pemberton (Austal): “Technology exists to provide a cost-effective alternative to helicopter transfers”
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
Large catamaran crew boats coupled with heave-compensated gangways can provide a cost-effective and viable alternative to costly helicopter transfers for offshore workers, believes Austal global sales manager, offshore, Chris Pemberton. He made the same point at this publication’s Asia conference last September but in an exclusive analysis for this report, Mr Pemberton has provided a detailed assessment of the two options, focusing on the Browse basin in the northwest of Australia, where both Shell’s Prelude and Inpex’s Ichthys will soon be operating. They are within 11 nautucal miles of each other, he said, but the nearest port of Broome is 250 nautical miles away by air. “With Ichthys nearing the end of its hook-up and commissioning phase and Prelude still going through it, many hundreds of engineers are required on both vessels on a daily basis,” he said. Two other fields, Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone, are also offshore North West Australia, although less remote than the two new projects. Prelude alone can accommodate up to 340 people during its commissioning phase, but this has been augmented by the semi-submersible POSH Arcadia
floatel, which has 750 beds, moored alongside. “This has made Broome’s Browse Basin Helicopter Support Base extremely busy with numerous 19-seat EC-225 and Sikorsky S-92 helicopters providing transfers many times a day,” he said. A complicating factor in air transfers is that helicopters must take enough fuel for a round trip in case the platform landing location is unusable, which reduces their capacity to 14 people because of the extra fuel weight. “This has meant that a new airfield location has been developed to support Browse in a remote Aboriginal community on Cape Levique,” he said. Its location is called Lombadina and the CHC website confirms it to be an intermediate stop between Broome and the offshore facilities. Now, however, both Shell and Inpex “are actively considering what marine back-up can be put in place to provide cover,” for example if the helicopters were grounded, Mr Pemberton said. He compares the 14 seats available in a helicopter with the 100 in an AustalIncat Crowther 57 m large crew transfer vessel (LCTV), which is designed for 100 seats or more. The journey to Browse and back (500 nautical miles in total) will take
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Australasia AREA REPORT | 11
longer – about 12.5 hours compared with about 3.3 hours of air time for the helicopter. Allowing time for refuelling in Lombadina, a helicopter can make about three journeys and carry 42 people in the same time that an LCTV will transport 100 people. His LCTV option also costs less per person to operate. The purchase price of an LCTV is about the same as a helicopter, but the LCTV costs about US$3,000/hr
to operate, compared with US$10,000/hr for a helicopter. So the round-trip cost is slightly less for the helicopter, but because it carries fewer people, the cost per seat on an LCTV “is at least 50% cheaper,” he said, adding that it can also carry cargo. Transfers to the offshore location can be done safely by fitting an Ampelmann Walk to Work (W2W) active heavecompensated gangway, which can be
operated safely in significant wave heights of up to 3 m, which Shell’s data indicates is only exceeded on 2% of occasions annually. “Technology exists with these large catamaran crew boats, coupled with the W2W gangways, to provide a cost effective and viable alternative to the costly helicopter transfers offshore,” Mr Pemberton said.
OFFSHORE SUPPORT GROWTH PUSHES TRAINING AGENDA As Australia pushes ahead with its LNG extraction activities, the need for a skilled workforce is becoming more pressing. Discussing the situation, Jessica Willis, a communications officer for the University of Tasmania’s Australian Maritime College (AMC) and its commercial arm, AMC Search, noted there is also “a requirement for those that may have been inactive during the downturn to renew the mandatory qualifications that enable them to work at sea and offshore.” AMC Search offers Australia’s largest range of maritime-related training, she said, with many of its mandatory and bespoke courses undertaken by those working in the offshore support industry. Nonmandatory courses designed specifically for the offshore industry will also see increased demand as LNG extraction activity grows, she said. She mentioned AMC Search’s LNG Loadmaster Simulation Training, which is designed to prepare terminal representatives, onboard seafarers and portside workers to help them understand shoreside and ship operations during LNG loading. However, “support vessels required for LNG projects are ideally suited to run on LNG fuel,” she pointed out, and platform supply vessels are already the most popular type of LNG-fuelled vessel around the world.
IMO’s International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) mandates specialised training for those who work on such vessels, she said. AMC Search is the first training provider in Australia to be accredited by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) for its IGF Code training. It is designed for deck and engineering officers and crew who directly handle and operate gas fuel systems. As environmental regulations become more stringent in Australian waters, the offshore industry will be one of the first to be affected, as the costs of using diesel in coastal waters will increase, she predicted. New entrants to the industry, particularly those working on OSVs, often complete AMC Search’s Certificate of Safety Training, which is endorsed by the AMSA and enables them to work on Australian-flagged vessels in international waters. Many offshore workers also complete its online Designated Security Duties course, which is designed for those performing security duties on OSV, including anti-piracy and anti-armed robbery activities. Training is also available for offshore facility security officers, following a course run from AMC Search’s new study centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. OSJ
A screenshot from AMC Search’s LNG loading simulator: OSV crew will increasingly need LNG handling skills (credit: AMC)
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Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
12 | AREA REPORT Australasia
A DYNAMIC, ALBEIT DELAYED, INDUSTRY SOLUTION
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uesday 8 May 2018 was a historic day for Australia, and for the shipping industry at large. A cause for celebration – albeit a day that should have been ushered in years ago. I am of course referring to the decision to allocate A$260M (US$193M) for the development of a satellitebased augmentation system (SBAS), for the Australasia region. The maritime community, given the total lack of SBAS coverage currently available in Australia, will welcome this announcement. The decision has been based on a Geoscience Australia test project, jointly funded by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, that has been testing new satellite positioning technologies and assessing the application of SBAS technology and its safety, productivity, efficiency and innovation benefits. Is this a good investment? As a master mariner with extensive experience in the dynamic positioning industry, the answer is definitely yes, albeit that this decision should have been made many years ago. A quick look at a map of the world that has existing SBAS networks overlaid on it will highlight the fact that a huge gap in coverage currently exists over Australia and New Zealand. In the maritime offshore oil and gas sector, satellite navigation receivers in the region have high visibility of up to six different global navigation satellite system
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
THE DECISION TO ALLOCATE SIGNIFICANT FUNDS TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SATELLITE-BASED AUGMENTATION SYSTEM WILL BRING PREMIUM LEVELS OF SERVICE TO THE AUSTRALASIAN SHIPPING SECTOR. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER SAYS DYNAMIC MARITIME SOLUTIONS FOUNDER MARK POINTON
Mark Pointon (Dynamic Maritime Solutions): Funding for an Australasia satellite-based augmentation system has been warmly welcomed
(GNSS) constellations. Each of which is capable of providing high accuracy position data, to units fitted on board a variety of offshore support vessels engaged in operations that include seismic survey, drilling, subsea construction, supply and maintenance and repair. These vessels carry out operations that require DP class certification. It is not uncommon to find examples of DP class 2 vessels fitted with levels of positioning equipment that barely meet the various DP class and industry requirements. A typical example would see a vessel using the IALA network to get its differential corrections by using medium frequency or high frequency
radio signals. The IALA network is designed to provide position accuracy of 1 m, so in theory everything is good. The reality however, is that the IALA system is range dependent and it becomes highly unstable during darkness, due to radio interference. Not ideal given the demand for 24-hour operations and while this may be a cost effective solution, the expression you get what you pay for springs to mind. This announcement means that services commonly referred to as ‘next generation SBAS’ that provide up to 3 cm accuracy by utilising duel frequencies and multiple constellations, will be available
‘free to air’ across the entire Australian continent and New Zealand. As a result, DP operators will have less stress and Australia will become a front runner in the development of these technologies, as opposed to lagging well behind the pack. These technologies represent a significant improvement to the accuracy currently available to mainstream shipping and will provide the end user with a system accuracy and reliability that can currently only be accessed by using premium positioning services provided by Fugro and Veripos, such as XP or APEX. These services currently come at a price that is often considered too high by some hard-pressed operators, forced into low charter rates during the current economic downturn. Obtaining access to the new network with virtually no cost outlay will please many of these shipowners. The new services are scheduled to encompass a broad geographical area that will stretch from Antarctica in the south, Fremantle in the west, Vanuatu in the east and Indonesia in the north. There are significant potential benefits to having the most accurate precise positioning system for the maritime industry, includingincreased efficiency of vessel and port operations, reducing operating costs and enhanced safety of navigation to protect the environment and infrastructure. But why did it take so long? OSJ
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14 | LEGAL MATTERS vessel enforcement
Insights for operators facing vessel enforcement Where enforcement is the only option for a lender, co-operation is still required for the lender to avoid value destruction, explains Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) partner Andrew Baird
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n an enforcement situation, a lender that is willing to co-operate is more likely to avoid diminishing the value of their asset. Indeed, “handing the keys back” can lead to an ordered disposal in a jurisdiction favourable for a sensible sale, eg UK, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Singapore, and this makes achieving a good price all the more likely. This is especially true in an auction situation, where it is key to have a well-established process in place and one that works quickly. A drawn out process in a tricky jurisdiction is likely to lead to deterioration of the vessel’s quality and hence its value. Trying to keep ships out of reach of the mortgage creditors rarely ends well for anybody. The challenge is to come up with a plan that enables all parties' goals to be reconciled. On a large syndicated transaction, where there are multiple facilities to a group, or perhaps a mixture of public and conventional debt, an organised and active approach is essential to a successful resolution. This is particularly true where there is a mix of secured and unsecured debt and possibly an awkward bankruptcy regime to content
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
with, coupled with the usual regulatory pressures. It is important that banks concentrate on legitimate concerns and are realistic about what can actually be delivered in the real world. It is essential that any plan is put together in an open manner, to avoid any nasty surprises. Playing roulette with the restructuring terms rarely leads to a harmonious conclusion to negotiations, or a long-lasting solution. In terms of a balanced proposal, key elements should include:
Andrew Baird (WFW): “Co-operation on enforcement is key for the lender to avoid value destruction”
• Further equity – from the existing owners or perhaps from PE in terms of third-party equity. • Deferral – interest and principal holidays. • PIK interest. • With any adjustment to interest provisions, consider what to do with swap liabilities. • Cash sweep – after opex and reserves – PAYE arrangements area useful tool. • Exit fees – careful structuring to avoid various issues around lender liability,but is possible for the financiers to have upside in return for an indulgence. • Security – is there any additional security that can be given,or are there enhancements to the existing security that can be deployed? • Structured programme for the disposal of certain assets. • Transparency between syndicates, or favoured nations provisions. There are confidentiality issues to navigate and there is a risk that despite getting the banks to the table, owners end up giving more away in total. It may be that you end up in a position where there is no choice but to make some form of insolvency filing. Where this has not been planned in advance it usually
means handing over control to a judge in bankruptcy proceedings and will benefit the lawyers. Chapter 11 has its place of course but better for an owner for this to occur in the context of a planned procedure, rather than a rushed filing or worse, a Ch 7 filing. For creditors, potential pitfalls include: • Unplanned asset arrest, where third parties arrest assets usually in unfavourable jurisdictions to try to get paid out in priority. This is used as leverage and can be avoided by ensuring that the creditor position is under control. • Forced insolvency filings – again these can be as bad for lenders as for owners; as a lender you would prefer not to find yourself in a position where there is an unplanned or unexpected filing. There are also circumstances where lenders may end up in accidental ownership positions through having structured a restructuring in a particular manner. This is usually as a result of having entered into a fee arrangement of some sort, or having ended up with excessive control levels, leading to them being in a quasi-equity positon. However, if properly advised, you should be able to avoid all of these pitfalls. OSJ This article is an edited version of a fuller presentation made by Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) partner, Andrew Baird
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vessel enforcement LEGAL MATTERS | 15
A HIGH OIL PRICE WILL NOT LIFT ALL BOATS THE MIDDLE EAST REMAINS THE GLOBAL BRIGHT SPOT IN THE OSV MARKET AND THE OIL PRICE IS HOVERING AROUND US$75 A BARREL. STILL, THE INDUSTRY IS NOT OUT OF THE WOODS, AS WESTWOOD GLOBAL ENERGY GROUP DIRECTOR THOM PAYNE TOLD RIVIERA’S MIDDLE EAST OFFSHORE SUPPORT JOURNAL CONFERENCE IN DUBAI
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il prices have been on a sustained rally this year and this is pushing forward exploration and production spending. But delegates at the conference were told that the industry faced mixed signals on a future recovery. Speaking in the conference’s opening session, Westwood Global Energy group director Thom Payne told the gathering that the uptake in oil prices is yet to resonate to the offshore marine sector. “We are starting to see a greater volume of offshore drilling projects being sanctioned around the world, but drilling will not start for another 18 to 24 months, so we are still a little bit off from seeing that big meaningful recovery in global rig counts,” he said. The exception is the Middle East which has proved a resilient market and over the past few months has experienced an uptick in new tendering and rig activity. “We expect that uptick to continue over the next one to three years,” said Mr Payne, adding “there are certainly very ambitious plans in place across most Middle East countries in terms of new field development. We expect [this] to translate into increased demand for jack ups and subsequently increased demand for OSVs.” That said, Mr Payne cautioned the market against giddy optimism, offering a conservative perspective on the short- to medium-term outlook. “Starting with the good news, consumption, the base for any meaningful oil price recovery, is at unprecedented levels,” he said. One of the big drivers of this has been China, which has experienced significant GDP growth this quarter; indeed, 2017 was the best year on record for Chinese car sales and 2018 has started strongly.
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The last few quarters have seen an increase in restructurings and companies emerging from Chapter 11 and that has been a game changer and a source of positive momentum. “But it is too early to tell whether [the market] has restructured sufficiently or if there is more to come,” said Mr Payne. At the same time, he drew attention to the elephant in the room: the US shale industry. “The [shale] market feels like the OSV sector of 2013, with double-digit inflation and a scarcity of equipment,” he said. “We have seen a rapid surge in demand for fracking horsepower and this has translated into the addition of 1M b/d of additional crude supply from shale fields or shale formations across the USA.” He noted OPEC was seen as the industry’s ‘best weapon’ in meeting this challenge. One of the other big uncertainties in the market today is the actual possibility of reactivating a lot of the older tonnage that is in layup, said Mr Payne. A lot of Chinese-built tonnage has not seen the market yet. “Of the 3,600 OSVs currently being tracked around, one third are in layup and around a further third are above 30 years old and will never come back to the market. But there is still quite a large number that are less than 15 years old; a lot are potentially in Chinese yards and never really had owners and could fall away as well,” he noted. Mr Payne shared a future projection which saw fleetwide utilisation moving to around 62% by 2019, 80% by 2020 and around 85% by 2022. Concluding on a positive note he said “there are the makings within the market to fix itself within the next five years.” OSJ
Thom Payne (Westwood Global Energy): “The market [could] fix itself within the next five years”
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
Use the Scene as Your Target
Find out more: www.guidance.eu.com/scenescan Guidance Marine Ltd, 5 Tiber Way, Meridian Business Park, Leicester, United Kingdom, LE19 1QP Tel: +44 116 229 2600 Email: sales@guidance.eu.com
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DYNAMIC POSITIONING | 17
DYNAMIC INNOVATION IN POSITIONING AND SENSORS NEW CONTROLS FOR DYNAMIC POSITIONING HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TRIALLED FOR OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION UNITS AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN ENHANCED TO IMPROVE ACCURACY
Mormaen 15 was retrofitted with Reygar’s StemTide DP in Falmouth, UK
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uppliers of dynamic positioning (DP) systems and sensors that provide accurate input data are introducing new technology to enhance operations in specific offshore environments. Some system integrators have taken an unconventional view on where their technology can be adopted, following the downturn in demand for new systems from offshore support vessel (OSV) markets. For example, UK-based Reygar developed a DP control system that can be rapidly retrofitted for use in shallow water offshore and marine construction. Reygar developed the StemTide DP control system in 2017 and tested it in Q1 2018 on two vessels, a multipurpose construction barge and an ROV survey support ship. StemTide DP was designed to manoeuvre and position marine and offshore construction units in shallow waters and in tidal environments. It is an affordable DP control system for use on small commercial vessels and can be adapted for use on autonomous and remotely controlled craft. It manages a set of thrusters and rudders, can follow
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a set course and speed and can carry out programmed missions, said Reygar managing director Chris Huxley-Reynard. Initially, StemTide was trialled on Keynvor Morlift (KML)’s multipurpose installation and survey support vessel, Severn Seas. In Q1 2018, it was tested on KML’s 60 m multipurpose barge Mormaen 15 after it was retrofitted in Falmouth, UK. On Seven Seas, it manages a Schottel azimuthing thruster, a Denison bow thruster and a Torkmaster stern thruster. On the 22 m wide Mormaen 15, StemTide controls two modular deck-mounted azimuthing 430 kW thrusters. Mr Huxley-Reynard said StemTide was successfully tested in automatic, weathervane and joystick assist modes during sea trials. It consistently held Mormaen 15 in position throughout the trials to within +/-0.5 m and heading to within +/-1.0˚ of the target over a 30-minute test period in a wind of around 15 knots. StemTide provides vessel operators with a single joystick control for all vessel thrusters and rudders. Its performance was also verified for operation in tidal current
conditions. Mr Huxley-Reynard said Reygar identified opportunities for further enhancements on StemTide during the trial. KML managing director Diccon Rogers said the combination of the DP controls and thrusters meant Mormaen 15 became a “highly versatile and costeffective stable platform for a variety of amphibious, nearshore and offshore applications.” These include laying offshore cables, wave and tidal energy-generating installations, offshore wind construction and marine civil engineering. “In particular, StemTide’s performance in challenging locations, including high current loading, makes the whole set-up on Mormaen 15 uniquely rugged,” Mr Rogers said. “We plan further DP thruster modularity throughout the KML barge fleet, including our crane barges. This will open new sectors and markets for us, as well as further enhancing the performance of our versatile vessel spreads.” KML operates in northern Europe and the UK with a fleet of four construction barges, three support vessels and two towage tugboats.
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
18 | DYNAMIC POSITIONING
Goodbye to reflector targets
On the sensor side, Wärtsilä subsidiary Guidance Marine has introduced the industry’s first targetless laser position reference sensor, SceneScan. Guidance Marine noted this differs to traditional laser position reference sensors as it does not use reflector targets, which offers distinct advantages. SceneScan scans and tracks the features in the surrounding environment to provide a position reference to DP systems. Guidance Marine explained that this means it is faster to set up these sensors for DP and they have lower operating costs than laser-target systems as there are no targets to maintain. Another benefit of SceneScan is it enables non-stop 360˚ manoeuvring around an asset on DP without having to move targets. It eliminates the risk of targets being obstructed or errors in positioning because of moving targets. This also removes any possibility of a walk-off incident of the vessel because of position reference failure. Guidance Marine has improved the user interface to its laser sensors with a dashboard that displays laser scans of
SCENESCAN TECHNICAL FEATURES Operating range up to 200 m
surrounding assets and reference points. SceneScan is designed to be used for station keeping and manoeuvres close to an offshore asset, for example a supply vessel close to an offshore oil production platform, floating production unit or drilling rig. SceneScan relies on the new targetless operating principle, which means it provides additional redundancy for safer operations, said Guidance Marine. SceneScan has an operating range of between 10 m and 200 m from an asset. It uses a laser pulse rate of 7.5 kHz, can compensate for wave action and interfaces with all DP systems using an ethernet communications cable.
Improved redundancy
Kongsberg Maritime subsidiary, Kongsberg Seatex, has tested its DP position reference units, DPS i2 and DPS i4, which use multiple constellations of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Using different satellite networks, along with integrated Inertial Navigation System (INS) technology, improves redundancy of position reference information.
DPS i2 & i4 FACTS Integrated: Manufacturer:
Close range operation from 10 m Full 360º scanning
Use:
Automatic wave compensation
Unique tech:
Laser pulse rate 7.5 kHz
GNSS constellations:
Class 1M laser classification
Inertial sensors:
Interfaces to all DP systems Ethernet communication
DPS i2 utilises US-funded GPS and Russia’s Glonass GNSS constellations, while DPS i4 also incorporates the European Union’s Galileo and China’s Beidou GNSS. These are combined with a motion reference sensor and marine gyro compass, for greater reliability of position reference. Having up to four constellations available offers the advantage of multiple layers of redundancy for times when signals are disrupted from events such as solar radiation, antenna blockages (from operating close to infrastructure) and GPS jamming. DPS i2 and DPS i4 innovation was recognised and honoured by this year’s Offshore Support Journal Dynamic Positioning award, which was presented to Kongsberg Seatex vice president of sales and customer support Vidar Bjørkedal at the gala awards on 7 February 2018. Since then, DPS i2 and DPS i4 have been successfully trialled on two vessels that are classed by DNV GL in the North Sea. This led to Kongsberg gaining approval in principle from this class society. This means vessel operators that want to order DPS i2 and DPS i4 can do so in the knowledge that they have been approved.
Applications:
DP reference system Kongsberg Seatex Provides precision position reference to DP systems GNSS combined with inertial sensors GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou MGC, MRU OSVs, rigs, FPSOs, shuttle tankers, pipelayers, offshore construction, drillships
NEW DYNAMIC POSITIONING SOFTWARE FOR OFFSHORE FLEET Global Maritime and UniSea has been awarded a five-year contract with SolstadFarstad to provide a dynamic positioning (DP) assurance solution for SolstadFarstad’s offshore fleet. The solution simplifies the implementation and documentation of DP testing, helping avoid downtime on ships and improving employee knowledge and experience, according to the company. Global Maritime chief executive Egil Kvannli said: “This is the biggest contract in Global Maritime’s history for the implementation and documentation of DP assurance on client vessels.” He added that the business must change and become more digital, a process facilitated by this solution. OSJ
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
From left: Kurt Roar Vilhelmsen (Unisea), Tor Johan Tveit (Solstad Farstad), Helge Hydle, Dag Leo Emblemsvåg (Global Maritime), Erik Rundhaug Lundberg, Joacim Buch Andreassen (Solstad Farstad) and Tore Fykse (Solstad Offshore)
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20 | PROPULSION AND THRUSTERS
SERVICES AND DIVERSIFICATION KEY FOR THRUSTER MAKERS Like so much in the offshore industry, thrusters have taken a knock in recent times. But as signs of life begin to register, industry participants must be best placed to take advantage, writes Ed Martin
W
ith work nearing completion on Rolls-Royce’s £44M expansion of its thruster facilities at Rauma in Finland, Offshore Support Journal spoke to Rolls-Royce customer director for propulsion and engines Gary Nutter and site manager Olli Rantanen about what the investment has brought to the site and the company’s thruster business in the offshore sector. One of the main aims of
the project, known as the Rauma Transformation, was to consolidate all Rolls-Royce operations at Rauma onto one site, said Mr Nutter. The project includes refurbishment of the existing facilities, a newbuild area for thruster assembly and testing of parts, with component manufacturing completely outsourced, said Mr Rantanen. “The scope [of the project] is mainly the building infrastructure and capital investment for equipment.
That will be finalised by the end of this year,” he said, adding that “When it is consolidated to one site, production is streamlined so we know we’ll get shorter lead times and better productivity.” Azimuth thrusters have been built at Rauma since 1965, with the first model made partly from tractor parts. This is a far cry from the current output off the plant’s three assembly lines. Mr Nutter outlined each line’s production. “The 40-tonne line is our
US thrusters. They go on workboats and tugs and are aimed at high bollard pull activities,” he said, citing examples of contracts with Damen and Sanmar as use cases. The 80-tonne line will manufacture UUC thrusters, for use on larger vessels such as drill rigs, semi-submersibles and thruster-powered floating production, storage and offloading (FPSOs) units, he added. Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest construction vessel, which is used for decommissioning oil platforms, is powered by 12 of these. Nutter noted that UUC thrusters are used “in some of the harshest environments in the North Sea.” The third assembly line is
By consolidating operations at a single site at Rauma, Rolls-Royce expects shorter lead times and better productivity
The refurbished facility at Rauma will have three lines for thrusters of differing sizes and weights
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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PROPULSION AND THRUSTERS | 21
for large, retractable thrusters, used in harsh ice environments such as the arctic. This line will have a height of 35 m and a hook height of 30 m to allow for testing of the largest such thrusters, said Mr Nutter. Alongside Rauma, there are two other main Rolls-Royce sites in the Nordics. The company’s R&D department, located in Ulsteinvik, Norway, has a focus on innovations for new product development, while Kristinehamn in Sweden is focused on propeller products and hydrodynamic research. In January this year RollsRoyce announced it was considering options for the marine division as part of a strategic review. Mr Nutter said that for the thruster business it has largely been business as usual, with the review taking place in the background. “The customers, the products, the people we have within our business – very much nothing has changed,” he said.
Diversifying its focus
Mr Nutter noted the decline in the offshore sector, due to low oil prices, had been mirrored in Rolls-Royce’s thruster business. Looking specifically at Rauma, he noted that while its UUC thrusters are for larger vessels, it also produces smaller UF thrusters, so the company has tried to secure more business on the tug and workboat side of the market that mounts these. Rolls-Royce Marine receives about 70% of its business from the offshore sector, Mr Nutter said. “The newbuild side has dropped off but the services side – which is roughly half of our business – has remained relatively strong,” he said. Rolls-Royce has followed the example of shipyards by diversifying away from offshore and towards the “merchant” side of the market, while maintaining its offshore customers. This has involved
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looking at the fishing vessel, ferries and expedition cruise ship sectors. In terms of a recovery, Mr Nutter said “there are certainly more conversations going on now than in the past.” The company recently signed a contract with Sembcorp for an FPSO to support operations in the Johan Castberg field offshore in Norway: “For us that was significant because that was the first FPSO we think has been contracted with thrusters since 2012,” said Mr Nutter. He also said the company is seeking involvement with a semisubmersible rig to be built for Awilco Drilling by Keppel. However, he noted “it’s early shoots compared to what we saw in better times, when the oil price was higher and people were investing more.” Looking forward, Mr Nutter emphasised optimisation. “We’ve got a whole range of what I would call traditional products like control systems, thrusters, engines, deck machinery equipment – how do we integrate these products with other, more intelligent offerings, integrating, optimising, making them as efficient as they can be?” Optimisation and efficiency are key requirements from customers. “Prices are becoming key as the market starts coming back overall and that’s an area we’ve been focusing hard on,” said Mr Nutter. He cited examples such as equipment health monitoring, allowing the company to advise customers on how to use equipment efficiently and improve performance, intelligent asset management, and hybrid systems as further key technological areas.
Signs of life
Brunvoll’s chief executive Odd Tore Finnøy spoke to Offshore Support Journal about the acquisition of Scana Propulsion
Schottel Far East's new facilities are capable of servicing thrusters up to 3,500 kW
in March 2017 and what this has meant for the company. “Both Brunvoll and Scana Propulsion were and still are affected by the reduction of the oil price and the missing oil and gas market for newbuilds,” Mr Finnøy said. However, Brunvoll’s specialisation in thrusters for manoeuvring and positioning complements Scana’s focus on forward propulsion. This means Brunvoll can meet customer requirements for a “complete package” of propulsion, manoeuvring and positioning systems from one supplier, in one contract. This has had beneficial results for the company, which has won several contracts on this basis, he said. While yet to feel any significant ripples from rising oil prices in terms of newbuild contracts, Brunvoll is already seeing improvements in the aftersales service market. Oil and gas vessels are coming out of layup and getting new charters or being sold to new owners, meaning there is demand for re-certification and maintenance before they reenter service. Mr Finnøy sees the market in general as improving and noted several sectors, such as passenger vessels, fishing and special cargoes, that have
experienced several good years. The company hopes to enter a new period of growth when the oil and gas market starts to improve, “first in the aftersales area, but also hopefully in newbuilds,” said Mr Finnøy. Elsewhere, Kawasaki Heavy Industries has received the first order for its newly developed E-series Rexpeller azimuth thruster. While these thrusters have been ordered for tugboats, the Japanese company also notes the design is suitable for use on supply boats, drillships and cable layers. Four units were ordered in February by China Communications Import & Export Corporation for delivery to Tianjin Lingang Tug Co., Ltd, for use on tugs at the Port of Tianjin. And in another sign that the sector is anticipating growth, Schottel’s Singapore subsidiary, Schottel Far East, has relocated to new facilities in southwestern Singapore. Incorporating a workshop with a 90-tonne lifting capacity, two 40-tonne cranes that can lift loads up to 9 m in height, and a crane with a lifting capacity of six tonnes, the facilities will be capable of servicing rudder propeller thrusters of up to 3,500 kW. OSJ
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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COMMUNICATIONS | 23
OSV OWNERS GAIN FROM NEW VSAT TECHNOLOGY Topaz and Bourbon are seeing the benefits of VSAT across their fleets, while technology providers are preparing for offshore developments using highthroughput satellites
Better hardware should yield multiple benefits, from remote network monitoring to happier and more contented crew (credit: Cobham)
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ffshore support vessel owners are enhancing operations and fleet management through advanced satellite communications, using very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technology. The majority of OSVs use older forms of this technology, deployed when market rates were high, before 2015. Since then, there have been few new VSAT contracts or upgrades. However, those that have upgraded have seen the benefits. Topaz Energy and Marine chief executive René Kofod-Olsen told OSJ about the operational benefits of using VSAT and providing vessel masters with tablets. He said crews use vessel wifi and Orange Business Services’ Maritime Connect digital platform to communicate with shore staff. The fleet uses Ku-band when available and L-band as a back-up. Crew can also use coastal cellular networks as lower-cost routes for data and voice services. “Our investment in IT demonstrates how we embrace technology advances,” he said. “We are able to synchronise and manage our integrated business operations more effectively and ensure our crew can access the internet for all their business communications needs.” Bourbon is another company using VSAT connectivity to improve operations. Bourbon vice president of operation standards and innovation Frederic Moulin said upgrades to VSAT will enable the company to better monitor vessel
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operations, including dynamic positioning. VSAT bandwidth enables Bourbon to “draw on data for remote monitoring and analysis” said Mr Moulin. Because VSAT speeds are around 512 kbps on its vessels, Bourbon sends data in packages, which means it is not real time. However, VSAT also enables Bourbon to remotely update onboard software. “We can access the equipment and software and remotely monitor networks,” Mr Moulin said. This is managed by Inmarsat’s Ku-band and L-band connectivity. Bourbon vessels could also be updated to Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress Ka-band services in the future. This is one potential avenue of VSAT upgrade, but there are others that use Ku-band and C-band and the new generation of highthroughput satellites (HTSs).
ANTENNA DEVELOPMENTS
Antenna hardware is being adapted to reflect both the new demands of offshore vessel owners and developments in satellite technology. As more geostationary and
medium-Earth orbit HTS are launched and commissioned, more data bandwidth is available in C-, Ku- and Ka-bands for owners and managers. When all three of these bands of radio frequency are available for communications and data transmissions, some types of offshore vessels will need antenna hardware to use them. These vessels include seismic survey ships, offshore construction vessels, floating production units, well intervention vessels, drillships and pipelayers. With this in mind, Cobham Satcom and Intellian Technologies developed tri-band VSAT antenna technology for offshore vessels and rigs. These enable vessels to communicate using both K-bands and the global coverage from C-band without crew intervention. Intellian started manufacturing its 2.4 m v240MT antenna for cruise ships in 2017; it is frequency-agnostic and satellite orbitagnostic. This means it connects with C-band and Ku-band services from geostationary satellites and Ka-band from SES’ O3b medium-Earth orbit constellation. Intellian
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
24 | COMMUNICATIONS
also developed an intelligent mediator that ensures the antenna can automatically switch between bands and satellite orbits without the need for crew to touch the antenna. Cobham Satcom worked with satellite owner Viasat to develop its Sea Tel 9711 Triband maritime antenna. This is a 2.4 m unit that performs across any C-, Ku-, or Ka-band network. Its architecture is based on Cobham’s existing Sea Tel 9711 C/Ku integrated maritime dual-band antenna model, of which there are around 1,000 units in operation, but with added Ka-band capability. Cobham vice president for maritime business Christian Kock said the triband model delivers the same automatic switching and radio performance as the dual-band version. It will enable broadband transmission speeds up to 1 Gbps. Mr Kock described the tri-band antenna as “a leap forward in terms of bandwidth potential” which will empower Cobham’s partners, the VSAT service providers, to “craft unconventional service packages using multiple frequencies, multiple networks and multiple orbits.” C-band and Ku-band services can be delivered from any of the main satellite owners, such as SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Skyperfect JSAT, Telesat, Yahsat, Singtel and Thaicom. In this case, Viasat provides the Ka-band radio frequency unit on the antenna for Ka-band services, such as its own and that of Telenor and O3b. Sea Tel 9711 Triband offers seamless, automated electronic switching between bands, providing operational continuity for vessels with demanding bandwidth, reliability and coverage requirements, said Mr Kock. “This system is a core building block for what will be the next generation of connectivity at sea.” Another technology that is often overlooked in offshore vessel VSAT is the ability to control the antenna using software. Cobham Satcom global VSAT business manager Jens Ewerling explained to OSJ how software and automatic services improve satellite performance and maximise power. “Our automatic calibration capability ensures that the transmitting power level is always at a maximum across the full spectrum of radio frequencies,” he said. Power levels are controlled dynamically by the VSAT modem in real time. “This is based on the system’s softwarecontrolled architecture, which allows the antenna to always perform at peak power, rather than operating on the middle-ofthe-road setting that could be chosen
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
mobile connectivity, he said. Phasor ESAs will be able to communicate with any kind of satellite system, whether it is geostationary, medium-Earth orbit or low-Earth orbit. “They will be interoperable from a single aperture,” explained Mr Helfgott. “This is currently impossible with mechanicallysteered satellite communications antennas” unless they have multi-band capabilities with two radio frequency feeds or apertures.
MODEM ADVANCES
JENS EWERLING (COBHAM): “Our automatic calibration capability ensures that the transmitting power level is always at a maximum”
during calibration,” said Mr Ewerling. When antennas operate at maximum power, end-users can experience faster and more reliable internet compared with the same reflector-dish size on a non-software-controlled antenna. More end-users can use the bandwidth and satellite capacity, which reduces the need for upgrades when oil company clients also need the online connectivity. For offshore support vessels that do not have the space for tri-band or dual-band antennas, there could be an alternative to existing 60 cm or 1 m diameter VSAT in the shape of flat panel antenna technology. Phasor is testing its electronicallysteered antenna (ESA) on vessels in maritime conditions this year, said chief executive Dave Helfgott. “Our mission is to empower mobile broadband access across all commercial-use cases and markets,” Mr Helfgott told OSJ. The development of flat panel antennas is being driven in part by the expectation that new constellations of nongeostationary high-bandwidth satellites will be launched by companies such as OneWeb, LeoSat and Telesat. These will enable ESAs to continue satellite links for broadband connectivity across oceans. Mr Helfgott said mobile broadband connectivity “is poised to take off as a second wave of wideband non-geostationary satellite constellations come online.” These will improve latency [delay in voice due to distances between Earth and satellites], global coverage and the user-economics of
The launch of new HTS, coupled with improvements in antenna performance, are driving gains in modem technology, which has lagged other sectors for the last five years. IT platform providers are now developing high-throughput modems. For example, modem manufacturer Newtec is working with VSAT service provider Panasonic Avionics, and its maritime arm ITC Global, to test a new generation of modems. ITC Global vice president for global engineering Sanjay Singam told OSJ that these modems would be tested in a maritime environment this year. “We have been restricted by the modem technology, but with Newtec’s hub solution for offshore, this will no longer be the case,” he said. Newtec’s latest modem is based on its Dialog platform, which is in use on offshore vessels and drilling rigs for interaction with HTS. This uses the latest transmission standard of digital video broadcasting over a second generation of satellites (DVB-S2X) on the forward channel to HTS. Dialog uses Newtec’s own dynamic bandwidth allocation technology, Mx-DMA, to transmit data on the return channel to satellites. Mr Singam said Newtec’s modems will support higher data transmission applications for vessel operations and crew welfare over VSAT, such as video streaming, voice over IP (VoIP), real-time ship monitoring, security camera streaming and high definition television. ITC Global currently uses iDirect’s modems for its offshore VSAT services. But it intends to use Dialog modems with the VSAT network that Panasonic named in February this year as a “third-generation communications network,” which includes HTS operated by Eutelsat, Intelsat, Telesat and SES. With upgraded modems, tri-band antennas and access to HTS connectivity, offshore vessel operators will be wellplaced to meet the data and broadband challenges ahead. OSJ
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26 | UUVS AND UAVS
Unmanned technology is taking off and taking over ROVs and autonomous vessels are now widely employed and 2018 could be a landmark year for their use in the offshore sector
BP’s crawler “Maggie” will stay attached to surfaces even in the event of power loss
UAVs can access areas that humans would require ropes and harnesses to reach (credit: Texo DSI)
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
O
ne of the most obvious and established uses for unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles (UAVs and UUVs, respectively) in an offshore context is to carry out inspections on facilities –oil and gas platforms, wind turbines and the like. UAVs can inspect high areas such as cranes, “crawler” robots can enter tanks and traverse hull structures, while UUVs can inspect pipelines and underwater structures among other tasks. Proponents argue this is not only more efficient in terms of costs and time, but also safer than humans carrying out the same work. Aerial drones can access areas that would require humans to use ropes and harnesses, crawlers can enter spaces that would be inaccessible or extremely dangerous for humans, while UUVs can carry out work that previously required the use of trained divers. BP provided a test case for this argument in March this year, when it successfully used an aerial drone and a crawler to inspect a riser pipe on its Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico. “What used to take a ropes team several weeks to complete, was done by the drone and the crawler in a matter of hours,” the company said in a press release. No electromagnetics were used in the crawler’s inspection, meaning that even in the event of a loss of power the crawler would have remained fixed to the platform. The crawler, known as “Maggie”, was equipped with strong rare-earth magnets and a high-definition camera, as well as a wireless gas detector with an alert range of up to 300 m. The drone used for the work can fly to within 5-8 m of its target and used a stabilised high-resolution camera to zoom in on areas of interest. It also carried an optical gas imaging camera that can ‘see’ potential gas clouds. But for all their potential, drones still have limitations.
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UUVS AND UAVS | 27
Workships Contractors general manager Philip Woodcock noted problems faced by UAVs in the offshore wind sector in sister publication Offshore Wind Journal. Many of the concerns he raised are equally applicable to the offshore oil and gas sector, especially with the development of unmanned platforms and the increasing use of “walk-to-work” vessels. For example, operators, who may “spend hours staring at a small screen” piloting a drone aboard smaller craft such as crew transfer vessels, are at risk of motion sickness, which can lead to poor inspection quality and the risk of striking the structure under inspection, potentially causing damage to the drone, the structure, or both. There is also the matter of recovery – many UAVs ‘land’ by being caught in the operator’s hands, which brings its own challenges in an offshore context. Mr. Woodock said “when the vessel is pitching and rolling in a seaway, this method of recovery will reduce flying time because any incident offshore that results in a loss of control will also cause the drone and data to be lost into the sea, with little chance of recovery. So the operator will err on the side of caution and not fly in marginal conditions.” Size and weight also play a role. Mr. Woodcock noted that additional capabilities require additional equipment, affecting the amount the drone must lift and therefore reducing flying time. Smaller drones are also limited to wind speeds of eight miles per second, so can be grounded by bad weather. Still, many businesses are making innovative use of the technology.
Fishing for collaboration
The commercial arm of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, which already offers vessels for services such as guarding subsea infrastructure, debris clearance and survey tasks, recently launched a service with UK-based Texo Drone Survey and Inspection (Texo DSI) offering fishing vessellaunched UAV services to the UK offshore oil and gas sector. Texo DSI’s drones are capable of mounting technologies such as light detection and ranging, ultrasonic thickness testing, optical gas and hyperspectral imaging, and remote/supply drop capabilities. The company also provides close visual, thermographic and internal UAV inspection services, and aims to further expand its range with microwave sensors,
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Hrönn, an automated light-duty offshore utility vessel, is set to enter service later in 2018
alternating current field measurement and phased array capabilities. In Norway, efforts are underway to look at how UAVs and drones can be used to transport cargo between offshore vessels and offshore installations as an alternative to conventional vessel-based crane operations, as reported in sister title Marine Electronics & Communications. The partners in the “Safer Logistics from Unmanned Logistics Helicopter” research project are four Norwegian technology companies: Griff Aviation is a heavycargo drone developer and manufacturer; STABLE focuses on advanced stabilisation technology; Olympic Subsea operates a fleet of 11 offshore construction vessels; and project leader Norut develops and operates autonomous control systems for unmanned airplanes, including in challenging weather conditions in northern waters. Another such venture involves a Netherlands-based collaboration between Robotica in Maintenance Strategies (RiMS) and the Dutch Drone Company. Together, they are seeking to provide “a full drone package service” of inspections for ship hulls, mobile offshore structures and cranes for the maritime and offshore industries.
Beyond ‘human’
At present a human operates the controls of most drones. However, 2018 promises to be a big year for autonomous drones and larger vessels in the offshore sector. Hrönn, described as a “light-duty offshore utility vessel” by developers Kongsberg Maritime, Automated Ships and Bourbon, is scheduled to enter service later in 2018. Initially operating in remotely piloted, “Man-in-the-Loop Control” mode, Hrönn will use algorithms developed during this stage to transition to fully automated and
autonomous operations. The vessel has several uses relevant to the offshore service sector, including pipelay and cable touchdown monitoring, carrying out surveys and deployment, recovery and monitoring of ROVs and UUVs. It will also be capable of providing firefighting support, working in cooperation with manned vessels. In April, Norwegian companies Kongsberg and Wilhelmsen announced a joint venture named Massterly that aims to be the world’s first full-service autonomous shipping company. While the joint venture will initially be focused on shortsea and inland waterways, Massterly managing director Tom Eystø sees potential for autonomous vessels in the offshore sector, for example by “implementing technologies that are driven by autonomy onto manned ships” for very standardised jobs, which could reduce stress on crew. Meanwhile an autonomous ground robot will soon carry out inspections at an operation oil and gas installation for the first time, as part of a project run by Total E&P, robotics firm Taurob, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt) and the Oil and Gas Technology centre. As part of an 18-month trial, the robot will first operate at Total’s onshore Shetland Gas Plant before moving offshore to the Alwyn platform. It can perform visual inspections, read dials, level gauges and valve positions, measure temperature and gas concentration and navigate narrow pathways and up and down staircases, all the while detecting and navigating around obstacles and humans it encounters. With such extraordinary abilities becoming commonplace, it seems reasonable to ask, for how much longer will there be humans on site to navigate around? OSJ
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
28 | SPECIAL REPORT Spanish shipbuilding
SPANISH YARDS MARK TIME ON OSVS SIGNIFICANT DELIVERIES REDUCE SPAIN’S OFFSHORE SUPPORT ORDERS AS YARDS FOCUS ON DIVERSIFICATION
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iversification is currently the watchword at those Spanish yards that previously built offshore support vessels. The strategy reflects their response to a situation, reported on in OSJ a year ago, when yard managers spoke of the wider renewable sector as a focus for replacement business. Some of the contracts mentioned then have now come to fruition, in particular Astilleros Gondán’s then recently-launched Edda Passat. It was the first of two service operation vessels (SOVs) it had on order for Norway’s Østensjø Rederi and was delivered on 27 February this year and immediately went into service for Ørsted UK Wind Power. Edda Passat had been named on 3 February, a day after the yard launched its sister, Edda Mistral. Both will support maintenance technicians for wind turbines, with 40 of them living onboard, plus 20 crew. This pair of ships was commissioned to Rolls-Royce’s
UT 540 design and are early examples of a new family of UT designs that was unveiled in June 2017. At the time, Rolls-Royce Marine said it had made a radical overhaul of its vessel design philosophy to optimise construction and operations, without reducing the use of space on board. Another significant delivery in Spain during 2017 was the 57 m Seacor Puma, a dynamically-positioned crew transfer vessel built by Astilleros Armon for Seacor Marine. It was shortlisted for the Support Vessel of the Year Award at this year’s OSJ Awards in February, which acknowledged vessels that “have set an industry benchmark through innovative design and efficient operation.” The yard also delivered its sister vessel, Seacor Panther, last year. They were built to a new Incat Crowther ‘CrewZer’ design and the catamaran vessels are described as being unique in the Gulf of Mexico because of their ability to transfer personnel
Seacor Puma was delivered by Astilleros Armon in 2017 and shortlisted for this publication’s Support Vessel of the Year Award (credit: Astilleros Armon)
and equipment to offshore platforms at maximum speeds in excess of 40 knots, each powered by four Cummins QSK95 engines. They were the first references for this engine type, which its manufacturer said would deliver “increased power and reliability, fast transient response and simple serviceability” when the engine order was announced in September 2016. As well as carrying offshore personnel in comfort, the craft have a large aft deck and firefighting capability.
OFFSHORE OVERHAULS FLY IN THE CANARIES
A Rolls-Royce service centre on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands has seen a large increase in thruster overhauls for offshore operators. RollsRoyce vice president customer and sales Nils-Reidar Olsvik Valle told OSJ in mid-May that, globally, it had seen a five-fold increase in thruster
overhauls so far this year compared to 2017, with the bulk of the work at the Spanish plant. “This year we have seen a real ramp-up in thruster exchange and overhaul,” he said, which he credited to an upturn in exploration and production activity. Mr Olsvik Valle added that the centre’s location in the Atlantic, on the key transit routes between Northern Europe, West Coast Africa, South America and the Gulf of Mexico, is a key to its success. The local maritime infrastructure is also important, he said, crediting its “excellent supply chain and highlyskilled workforce.” Its service centre covers an area of 2,100 m2 and can recondition up to six azimuth thruster units simultaneously. It is located in the Astican Shipyard and is run as a partnership between the two companies, giving owners an added benefit of access to Astican’s deep-water quay and extensive repair and overhaul facilities, which is ideal for larger rigs, Mr Olsvik Valle said. “We have a symbiotic relationship which means we can be flexible in handling our customers’ requirements,” he said. Astican has recently invested in a quayside facility to handle growing demand for overhauls to Rolls-Royce UUC thrusters, which can be removed and remounted under water. The yard is also planning to build a new graving dock, large enough to handle vessels up to 320 m. OSJ
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Turkish shipbuilding SPECIAL REPORT | 31
Nothing if not versatile: innovation and optimism driving resurgence in Turkey’s shipbuilding industry After a tumultuous couple of years the Turkish economy is on the mend and its shipbuilding industry is pushing ahead with a range of versatile and sometimes ground-breaking projects, reports Selwyn Parker
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ased in northwestern Turkey, the Tersan shipyard is building the country’s biggest ever floating dock, and one of its most advanced. At 284 m long and 51 m wide, the dock will be able to accommodate large vessels, such as Aframax medium-sized tankers. The project is a statement of confidence in an industry that until recently faced a very uncertain future. On the back of a growing order book of newbuilds, Tersan has been steadily investing in facilities, to the point where it can now reasonably claim to be one of the biggest and most modern shipyards in Europe. Employing about 500 permanent staff, rising to 2,000 for big projects, Tersan is a typically versatile Turkish shipyard, building everything from Arctic fishing boats and ferries to stainless steel tankers, tugs and offshore supply vessels. In February, the shipyard delivered the 122 m long Mokstrafjord, the third in a series of battery-powered roro passenger and vehicle ferries for Norway’s Fjord1 group. The yard is also building an LNGpowered hybrid roro ferry for Torgatten Nord.
Bouncing back
Turkey has suffered a difficult time of late; the last two years have been marred by border quarrels, a failed coup and a series of dreadful terrorist attacks, all of which have hampered investment. The shipping sector has not been immune to these shocks, but it has quickly regained its confidence and Tersan’s renewed optimism mirrors that of the sector in general.
A proud heritage
Few nations are as proud of their shipbuilding history as Turkey. As the OECD has pointed out, the country’s shipyards date back eight centuries. But it was not until the early 1990s that the sector began to modernise and evolve into an internationallyrecognised industry. Today, most of the nation’s shipyards are located in the Marmara region, in particular Tuzla, Yalova and Izmit. As the OECD acknowledges, these areas have developed into dynamic shipbuilding centres. Latterly there has also been investment in shipyards in the Black Sea and Mediterranean area. In tandem with the steady wave of investment (US$2.8Bn in the 15 years to 2016) Turkish shipyards have branched out from the repair and conversion work that was their bread and butter into newbuilds, notably bespoke contracts. And the newbuilds are
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VectRA 3000: an excellent advertisement for the expertise of Turkish shipbuilders
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
32 | SPECIAL REPORT Turkish shipbuilding
getting bigger to include petroleum and product tankers, heavy freighters and multi-purpose container ships. As a result, Turkey regularly places in the top 10 countries in the world in terms of deadweight production, and sometimes higher in terms of the number of ships being launched. As Turkey’s minister for maritime affairs Ahmet Arslan pointed out last year, in statistical terms the industry has more than doubled in the last 15 years. Turkey now counts 79 shipyards of varying sizes, compared with 35 in the early years of the new millennium. Combined, these yards have the capacity to build 4.5M deadweight tonnes of ships every year. The sector’s annual turnover hit US$2.5Bn in 2016 and, most importantly, the value of exports doubled between 2015 and 2016 to US$1Bn.
Versatility
The industry appears to be gambling its future on the versatility that has carried it this far, rather than on series production. The Besiktas shipyard, one of the biggest in Turkey, prides itself on building everything from specialised vessels up to 26,000 deadweight tonnes and repairing “any type of vessel up to 382 metres.” In the last few years, Besiktas has launched offshore support vessels, chemical tankers, tugs, work boats and pilot boats. Most of these are what the group describes as “added-value ships.” The shipyard says: “Besiktas concentrates on special-purpose vessels with tailor-made solutions.” It is also one of the busiest repair yards in the Mediterranean region, booking 150 dockings a year. The Gemak Group is not far behind. Having repaired or converted well over 2,000 vessels since 1969, Gemak – with yards in Tuzla and Altinova – takes on contracts for simple bulk carriers, dredgers, semi-submersibles and drill ships among others.
Outward-looking
The family-owned shipbuilder Tor Marine – now run by its fifth generation – is another versatile yard, with origins dating back to the 1880s, when Mustafa “The Carpenter” Torlak started building wooden boats in the Black Sea region. It is a sign of the times that recently the group has expanded internationally. Tor Marine has built a fruitful relationship with Aberdeen-based naval architects Macduff Ship Design. Last year, the Turkish yard delivered to Saudi owners two 27 m pilot vessels that came off Macduff’s drawing board. In January 2018, Tor Marine completed a 16.8 m work boat, a stretched version of the standard 14.9 m general service vessels. Meanwhile, other Turkish shipyards are profiting from an association with the Aberdeen firm. In the last two years, Tuzlabased RMK Marine has constructed two 19 m shallow-draught tugs, the latest of nine contracts based on Macduff designs that included five 10.10 m mooring tugs. Elsewhere, the RMK yard turns out everything from superyachts – a niche in which Turkey has been gaining a reputation – to tankers, military ships (including the largest warship ever built in Turkey), asphalt carriers and tugs. Currently on RMK’s order book are chemical carriers and another asphalt carrier, the latter to be launched in early 2019.
includes tugs up to 105 tonnes. Another tug specialist, the Sanmar shipyard, has constructed LNG-suitable tugs that comply with the Australian Maritime Authority’s tough safety regulations. Known as RAstar 3400s, these escort-class tugs were designed by Canada’s Robert Allan group and feature a sponsoned hull configuration and foil-shaped escort skegs. They have been deployed in Australia’s LNG plants. Sanmar has developed a promising working relationship with Robert Allan. In March, the yard launched the first of a new class of tugs, the VSP VectRA 3000 series (VSP stands for Voith Schneider propeller). Designed exclusively for Sanmar, these vessels are targeting a global market. The brief Sanmar gave to Robert Allan was for a 30.25 m VSP tug, under 500 gross tonnes, that would incorporate high-speed engines, a clutch between thruster and engine, and electronic controls. The vessel also had to be fully compliant with the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention for crew accommodation. If the VSP VectRA 3000 fulfils its promise, it will be an excellent advertisement for the expertise of Turkish shipbuilders.
Turnkey vessels
Another shipyard that has branched out from the fundamental business of repairs and conversion is Cemre, based in the newer shipbuilding hub of Yalova. With an eye firmly on the future, Cemre focuses on highly customised, turnkey vessels such as the Esvagt Mercator, a 58 m service operation vessel delivered in late 2017. Designed for the Esvagt group, the snub-nosed ship will support 50 offshore wind turbines in Belgian waters. The yard is also putting the finishing touches to its Havyard 832 multi-purpose vessel. Commenting on the 81.9 m DNV-class vessel, which can accommodate 49 people, Cemre shipyard manager Hüseyin Şanlı said the vessel will expand the scope of work to include service, maintenance and inspection of the hose system and to perform service vessel duties in connection with work on unmanned platforms for Hess at the South Arne field this year. “We are very pleased to have a growing business relationship with ESVAGT,” he said. These are bold projects, and ones that reiterate the optimism and confidence driving Turkey’s resurgent shipbuilding industry. OSJ
Tugs
Turkey has quietly become a go-to country for tugs. Bogazici Shipping, a specialist in these workhorses, has built customised harbour escort tugs for Poland’s LNG terminal at Swinoujscie on the Baltic Sea. Among its product range, Istanbul-based Bogazici
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
Havyard 832: an example of the innovation coming out of the Cemre yard
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34 | BULK HANDLING AND TANK CLEANING
TWMA AIMS TO BE THE WORLD’S DRILLING WASTE SPECIALIST TANK CLEANING AND BULK HANDLING FIRMS HAVE SUFFERED DURING THE DOWNTURN. BUT WITH INCREASED TENDERING ACTIVITY ON THE BACK OF A RECOVERING OIL PRICE, A GLIMMER OF HOPE LIES AHEAD
Like the rest of the offshore sector, the tank cleaning industry has suffered during the downturn (credit: Hammelmann Oelde)
TWMA’s TCC RotoMill allows drill cuttings to be processed at sea
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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he tank cleaning industry has been hit hard in recent years. As the economy stumbled and production dwindled, so the amount of tanks being filled decreased. And if a tank has not been used, there is little call for a tank cleaning service, as MMASS Ltd managing director Ian Mcdougall explained: “If no one is building new ships, they’re not looking for package prices.” Tank cleaning systems are only used when tanks themselves are being filled said Macdougall, adding “if there’s nothing going in the tanks, which could happen for months on end, [the cleaning systems] won’t be on at all.” However, halfway through 2018, signs of life in the sector are starting to emerge. OSVs are coming out of layup as supply overhang decreases and investors appear willing to return to the offshore oil and gas sector. Furthermore, energy firms have resumed spending on exploration. UKbased Awilco Drilling has commissioned a newbuild harsh-environment semisubmersible rig from Keppel Fels, the first such order in four years, for US$425M. Alfa Laval’s first-quarter results presentation highlighted an uptick in oil, gas and offshore activity. “Improved activity in upstream oil and gas, on shore as well as in the off-shore sector, contributed to both Energy and Marine reporting a somewhat better order intake than we had expected,” said Alfa Laval president and CEO Tom Erixon. “We expect that demand during the second quarter of 2018 will be on the same level as in the first quarter,” he added. Norway-based pump system provider Frank Mohn (Framo), which was acquired by Alfa Laval in 2014, is reaping the benefits of this activity. In April, Framo announced orders for a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the North Sea (a contract worth Skr125M (US$14.2M); a floating LNG (FLNG) vessel to be built in South Korea (Skr50M); and an FPSO vessel to be built in China (Skr70M). An order worth Skr170M was also made for
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BULK HANDLING AND TANK CLEANING | 35
Framo pumping systems and emergency generators to form part of the safety and emergency power systems of a North Sea oil platform. Meanwhile, compatriot PG Flow Solutions announced in January it had been awarded a contract to supply equipment for recovered oil services for an OSV returning to market after layup. The OSV is owned by Brazilian firm Wilson Sons Ultratug Offshore, a joint venture between Wilson Sons and Ultramar. Aberdeen-based TWMA, which was acquired by offshore-focused private equity firm Buckthorn last year, recently announced it would be providing drill cuttings management – in the form of bulk transfer and storage of cuttings, as well as at-source processing – for a two-well offshore drilling project with New Age Cameroon Offshore Petroleum. This follows the announcement in January of a three-year contract with Total for drilling waste management services in the UK continental shelf, and in August 2017 of a three-year contract, estimated to be worth £1M (US$1.3M), with E&P firm Azinor Catalyst for drill cutting containment and processing services on the Ocean Guardian rig in the central North Sea. TWMA chief commercial officer Gareth Innes spoke to Offshore Support Journal about how the company had made it through the downturn and what the future might hold. Mr Innes believes the key to TWMA riding out the downturn was “our customer-focussed approach and the uniqueness of our technology,” referring to the TCC RotoMill. The traditional means of handling offshore drill cuttings in the North Sea has been via bulk handling and transfer, combined with ‘skip & ship’ for handling on shore. TWMA’s TCC RotoMill technology allows drill cuttings to be processed at source, with recovered base oil recycled back into the mudsystem; clean, treated water and solids can be safely disposed of at sea within environmental regulations. While TWMA still offers bulk transfer and ‘skip & ship’ solutions for onshore treatment, the offshore TCC RotoMill method allows for increased logistical and operational cost savings. “We do the processing offshore, which means we can return valuable base oil back to the customer to use in their mud systems,” said Mr Innes, adding: “It eliminates all the logistical and HSEQ
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Gareth Innes (TWMA): “We want the oil markets to balance as they are and continue to gain some ground”
issues associated with shipping hundreds of tonnes of cuttings and processing or disposing of them on shore.” Mr Innes described this as “the cornerstone” of TWMA’s business. The company is working on expanding its geographical reach with this, and is currently involved in projects in Norway, the Middle East and Africa to this end. Discussing TWMA’s acquisition last year, Mr Innes said: “The main thing with Buckthorn is it brings investment capital and the drive to turn the company more into an international oil service company.” Previously TWMA was “a UK company with some international operations,” Mr Innes says, but its target
now is to become a full-scale global oil service company – “the world’s drilling waste specialist.” The Buckthorn investment also brought about changes in management, of which Mr Innes is an example, having joined the company from US oilfield services company Weatherford in October 2017. Another former Weatherford employee, Tony Branch, joined TWMA when the company was acquired, before taking on the role of CEO from Ronnie Garrick, who is company president. Nicholas Gee also joined the company from Buckthorn partners as chairman. According to a company press release announcing Mr Branch’s appointment as CEO, the company is targeting turnover of £200M and a headcount of 1,500. Commenting on oil prices and the resulting impact on OSVs, Mr Innes sees volatility as having driven investment to tight oil and shale gas in the US, as such projects have a shorter timeframe in terms of return on capital. Offshore and deepwater projects, on the other hand, have longer development times and production cycles and are more attractive in times of stability. “We are expecting stability to come back into the oil price due to stock overhangs being depleted,” Mr Innes said. “We want the oil markets to balance as they are and continue to gain some ground.” “That stable backdrop is what we need on the service side,” he concluded, noting that as long-term projects in any market benefit from such stability, so offshore will benefit from balance in the oil markets. OSJ
Framo announced four orders for its pumping systems in April
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
36 | SUBSEA MARKET UPDATE
Crunch time: is the subsea market on the path to recovery? While oil prices have been boosting profits for the oil majors, the cash is yet to trickle down to the contracting industry. But could a crunch be coming?
T
he industry has reshaped itself significantly over the past three years, with significant consolidation, scrappage and vessel lay-ups. As such, there now appears to be some semblance of light at the end of the tunnel. Globally, scrapping activity has increased; in 2017, 16 vessels were scrapped, compared with 12 in 2016 and 10 in 2015, according to data from IHS Markit. Scrapping activity was dominated by dive support vessels, with the main contractors, such as Subsea 7 and TechnipFMC, actively scrapping to renew their fleets. Up to the end of April, five vessels had been scrapped this
year, with a sixth due to be scrapped in May. It is all older tonnage being taken out of the market, said IHS Markit decommissioning and subsea analyst Catherine MacFarlane, but it still leaves a lot of spare capacity. For example, there are still 227 ROV support vessels in the market globally, all built in the “boom time,” so they are fairly new and high specification. “Even though the fleet has been reduced, there’s just not enough work and there will not be for some time,” said Ms MacFarlane. Despite this gloomy outlook, “most people agree that we are through the worst,” she said. “But in terms of a proper recovery it will not
In April, Kreuz Subsea mobilised the recently delivered newbuild dive support vessel Kreuz Challenger under a seven year contract with Brunei Shell Petroleum (Photo from Kreuz Subsea)
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
be until 2019 before we see anything, and it will not be back to the previous normal.” Archer Knight executive director David Sheret agreed. He expressed the view of the Aberdeen-based consultancy when he said: “We doubt the equilibrium will fully recalibrate, therefore adjustment will continue and unless you do something very niche or clever, the vessel market will remain tough for a few years yet.”
EUROPE
“In the last couple of months there has been renewed optimism in the sector, with all the active UK North Sea fleet almost sold out for the month of May (as at the end of April), based on the spot market,” said F3 Offshore Services director Yul Thomson. But, there are still many vessels in lay-up, said Thomson, and for the most part, vessel owners are not bringing them back into the market until they can secure longer contracts of four to six months. This means there has been a tightening in the availability of active vessels, resulting in an increase in prices. Thomson said that vessels that were going for £20,000 to £25,000/day (US$27,000 to US$34,000) earlier this year are now getting £25,000-£30,000/day (compared with £100,000/ day a few years ago for a larger construction vessel).
Archer Knight predicts just a 1.3% increase in inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) campaigns on the UK Continental Shelf in 2018. But, Mr Sheret, who was previously general manager, global business development at Bibby Offshore, said 2019 will improve further, and points to an increase in sanctioned oil and gas projects in the UK North Sea (13 to14 expected this year, compared with three in 2017). Others are finding work elsewhere, such as offshore wind, where the younger fleets, including ROV support, can be put to good use in oil and gas. “Norway’s Olympic Subsea has been successful in this area,” Ms MacFarlane said. Subsea 7 recently acquired Siem Offshore Contractors and Saipem has also been focusing on this area. However, the work pays less and in some cases vessels are being put to work at below break-even costs.
US GULF OF MEXICO
The large number of stacked vessels – warm and cold – has become a feature in the US Gulf of Mexico. While several vessels have been very active over the last two to three years, even in the downturn, “more are now idle than are being used,” said IHS Markit senior data specialist offshore North America Greg Rivera. By late April this year,
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SUBSEA MARKET UPDATE | 37
including DSVs, there were 30 vessels in service, said Mr Rivera. Of those 30, eight were listed as cold stacked. Of the remaining 22, about 18 are actually active. Utilisation rates, from a 50%-58% average in 2010-2014, dropped to 34% in 2015, 25% in 2016 and 21% in 2017. A large problem is the excess tonnage (even with a large proportion of the fleet stacked and the Jones Act limiting the use of foreignflagged vessels) and the lack of work for it. “It’s got to the point where some service providers say we can’t go any further on prices,” said Mr Rivera. “A lot of companies really tried to strengthen relationships with specific services providers, but there’s no reason to sign long-term contracts when you can get low rates on spot markets.” One company that has bucked this trend is Edison Chouest’s subsidiary C-Innovation, which recently signed a three-year deal with BP to provide construction vessel services. US vessel operator Bordelon Marine’s reaction to this environment has been
to convert three platform supply vessels into ultra-light intervention vessels. The third of these, the Connor Bordelon, was completed in March and is now chartered to Oceaneering. “All three have had the same conversion treatment, so that they are easy to maintain,” said Bordelon. “They’re smaller, lighter, faster, cheaper and more efficient. They don’t have free deck space, and crane capacity is lower at 60 tonnes. But they have picked up tremendous activity,” said Mr Rivera. In contrast, two newbuild multi-purpose support vessels that were due in the market in 2019 (part-built in Gulf Island Fabrication’s construction yard) were recently cancelled by Hornbeck Offshore Services (HOS). “Looking forward, the best hope to get these vessels back in to service is offshore wind,” said Mr Rivera. But, unlike in Europe, this work is still minimal and work at scale is still a number of years out. This has not put off Europe’s DeepOcean, which has acquired Delta SubSea to gain access to the growing US windfarm market.
ASIA
“In the Asian subsea market, demand for support and diving vessels remains sluggish, with supply exceeding demand,” said Kreuz Subsea CEO AJ Jain. “Many of our customers are now looking for long-term lockedin pricing and we are seeing high-specification vessel owners willing to trade down in price, to secure vessel utilisation.” He continued: “We are in a fortunate position to have six saturation dive vessels currently working for Larsen & Toubro and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Our new-build DP-2 DSV Kreuz Challenger was also recently deployed by Brunei Shell Petroleum Company directly to Negara Brunei Darussalam's territorial waters. This vessel was built to the client’s standards and requirements, which is becoming more common in today’s market and it will be utilising the DSV for IRM work.”
NEWBUILDS
Despite global over-capacity, new vessels are still being built. In total, 76 vessels are on order, although only two orders were placed this year, said Ms
MacFarlane. Of the 76, 56 are due for delivery in 2018, but IHS expects delivery dates to be postponed until market conditions improve. Most of the newbuilds are accommodation units (37), followed by ROV support vessels (10).
CRUNCH TIME
For some, the real challenge is going to come as work picks up. Aberdeen-based KD Marine owner and managing director Hamish Petersen said so many people have left the industry or let their certificates lapse that it can be hard to get staff when you want them. Furthermore, operators are also starting to lack experience and as a result are paying more for third-party assurance firms. In addition, supplier stocks are low, said Mr Petersen, leading to long lead times for even simple items. Some suppliers have closed and 24-hour service has gone. F3’s Mr Thomson agreed, adding that the availability of support equipment is already becoming an issue. Mr Petersen concluded: “The price of recession will come home to bite as things recover. It’s very messy and a problem stored for the future. OSJ
RETIRED VESSELS 2010-2018 YEAR RETIRED VESSEL TYPE
2010
Accommodation
2011
2012
2013
2014
Bury/Trench
2016
2017
2018
Grand Total
5
3
1
10
1
Derrick
1 1
Derrick pipelay Diving support
2
Multiservice Pipelay
2015
1
1
2
2
3
1
5
3
ROV support
1
6
2
1
5 1
10
1
2
2
1
16
1
1
5
1 1
4
Support
1
1
Well Intervention
1
1
1
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3
1
5
2
10
12
16
5
55
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
38 | NEWBUILDING AND DELIVERIES
NO SILVER BULLETS: OSV OWNERS FACE HARD CHOICES ON ASSETS AND EMPLOYMENT
T
he offshore vessel market is emerging at a glacial pace from a downturn that has ravaged earnings and values across asset classes in the main demand centres. All market segments have suffered to varying degrees and the overall contraction in demand remains staggering. This is illustrated in Chart 1, which plots demand for anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) and platform supply vessels (PSVs). It is immediately clear that the volume of underlying work – looking at working rigs, offshore construction and
active platforms – is back to pre-boom levels, with the huge demand growth from 2005 to 2014 largely negated by the most recent downturn. Further, underlying demand has evolved at varying pace across different asset classes within the wider OSV market. The volume of demand for AHTS from drilling has collapsed (by 41%) on 2013 levels, whereas the volume of supply runs and other platform support activities has only dropped by 26% (although by the same token, we believe that rig demand will rebound quicker, whereas well shut-ins
Even with a strong oil price the recovery will be slow, so operators must consider how they will protect themselves, writes MSI director of consultancy James Frew
Vessels Years 3,000 2,500
Demand – PSV Demand – AHT(S)
2,000 1,500 1,000 500
Chart 1: Where has all the demand gone? Global demand is back to the pre-boom days
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
0
in South East Asia have taken a more lasting toll on overall platform supply demand). There are also significant regional differences across the OSV markets. The Middle East remains comfortably at the top of the major markets, since asset utilisation remains high and cash flows are positive (although assets mobilising to the region from South East Asia have ensured rates move in line with the wider market). Utilisation for standard OSVs (AHTS and PSVs) is a little higher than in other regions (somewhere between 50% and 60%) on an overall basis, considering the total fleet including lay-ups. However, bigger and better-known owners show significantly better utilisation rates. The landscape remains extremely fragmented in the Middle East, with a throng of owners with one or two vessels, mainly in the UAE. The Far East remains crippled by both reduced demand from well shut-ins and lower drilling levels, coupled with having the greatest exposure to the oversupply of assets in Asian yards. The most promising region in terms of growth is likely to be Mexico, which retains a focus on smaller assets, while the recovery in activity off West Africa is promising. However, the relatively stable nature of Middle Eastern demand, coupled with the fact that much of the decline in South East Asia has already taken place, means the sensitivity of oil
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NEWBUILDING AND DELIVERIES | 39
STRUCTURAL SHIFTS
Such complex and expensive projects are only available to the IOCs and these will increasingly be their focus. That shift in capex to big projects, or towards sub-sea tie-backs, also means a reduction in demand for smaller offshore assets. As well as shifting demand, the landscape in which boats can win contracts is changing, with tightening local content restrictions becoming increasingly important in determining vessel utilisation. In our view this is one of the key ingredients for survival among smaller OSV owners. Without some protection from local content, OSV owners will be left in an increasingly commoditised industry, with a significant oversupply of modern, commoditised assets available in Asian shipyards at increasingly aggressive price levels. To the extent possible, OSV
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James Frew (Maritime Strategies International): Even in a strong oil-price environment the recovery will be slow
Q4 2017 Depreciation 100%
5 k BHP AHTS 11 k BHP AHTS
90%
14 k BHP AHTS
80%
18 k BHP AHTS
70%
24 k BHP AHTS
60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 20Yr Old Price
15Yr Old Price
10Yr Old Price
0% 5Yr Old Price
owners that can present a value proposition beyond simply providing the asset, adding some sort of logistical solution, will be better placed to earn a margin. Examples include Seacor’s introduction of fast crew/supply vessels to Saudi Arabia, or Topaz’s construction of specialised module carriers to move infrastructure into the Caspian region. The commoditisation of smaller asset classes is also reflected in the relative pricing of classes of OSVs (see Chart 2). Using relative depreciation to newbuilding prices to compare values across different asset sizes gives a clear view of where the pain is concentrated. The more sophisticated, larger and often European-built AHTSs have retained more of their value, while the Asian non-specialised and smaller AHTSs have fared worst. For example, MSI evaluates a fiveyear old 24,000 bhp AHTS at 70% of its replacement value, whereas the equivalent percentage for a 5,200 bhp AHTS is below 25%. In our view this is the crux of the market. Assets which were significantly overbuilt by
0Yr Old Price
price demand among smaller OSVs is blunted. By contrast, larger AHTS remain extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the oil price. Maritime Strategies International’s (MSI) modelling suggests those regions with the greatest sensitivity to oil prices are the Golden Triangle of Latin America, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. Of these, demand in Brazil is, in MSI’s view, most sensitive to crude pricing fluctuations. As well as experiencing reduced demand, the nature of new construction projects executed by OSVs in the western hemisphere is evolving. This structural shift is towards high capex/low opex projects that international oil companies (IOC) now favour as their best strategy to counter the tight oil revolution – projects such as Mad Dog 2, Kaikias and Liza in the Gulf of Mexico/ North Coast South America and Johan Sverdrup and Johan Castberg in the North and Barents Seas.
Chart 2: AHTS Price Depreciation: how each asset class is performing
Asian yards have seen their values collapse; it is not really a failure of the demand side that is crippling the market, but rather colossal oversupply. This means that any market recovery will be slow to come. MSI has modelled a High Case oil price scenario, with oil continuing its recent upwards movements and stabilising at close to US$100/ bbl (in part as a consequence of Saudi determination to maintain a high oil price ahead of the Aramco IPO). Even in this scenario, the market recovery takes until 2020, and is as much to do with the gradual removal of inactive assets from the fleet – either through outright scrapping or lapsed class certificates and escalating reactivation costs – as it is from resurgent demand. The fact that the oil price is currently around US$75/bbl – a level higher than most in the industry would have dared hope for two years ago – but there has been no obvious market uptick shows the problem is not the oil price, nor the volume of offshore work per se, but the extremely deep supply-side hole the industry has dug itself into. This hole is only made deeper by the orderbook, particularly given that we believe most of the assets on order will be delivered. We believe around 60% of the
current PSV orderbook, for example, has been launched and is awaiting fitting out, whilst the equivalent figure for AHTS is just under 50%. All said, we feel there are over 200 AHTS and PSVs ordered in the last cycle where construction is sufficiently advanced that it is likely the asset will eventually join the fleet. It should be clear then that there are no silver bullets for asset operators – if there were, they would have used them by now. The efforts of the likes of Bourbon in reshaping their businesses to adjust for the new reality, scrapping vessels and trying to incorporate digitalisation into their fleet, is a step forward, but the oversupply of assets continues to drag any recovery off course. In this context a quote from Dwight Eisenhower is particularly apt: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” MSI is no betterplaced to predict the oil price than any other forecaster. However, what our research shows is that even in a strong oil-price environment the recovery will be slow, and any operators that remain exposed to commoditised assets, without the protection of local content restrictions, will continue to struggle, even as the market shifts into recovery phase. OSJ
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
40 | OPERATOR PROFILE
WAVECRAFT VOYAGER TAKES ON THE HELICOPTER MONOPOLY It is fast, economical and environmentally virtuous. It is called Wavecraft and as Selwyn Parker reports, when it comes to transferring crews between shore and open-sea platforms, helicopters may no longer be the only option
Umoe Mandal’s seaborne helicoper, the Voyager 38X
A
ny vessel with a top speed of 55 knots and a range of 700 nautical miles (nm) is bound to attract attention. When you throw in fuel-sipping propulsion, the economies get even more interesting. Launched earlier this year, the Voyager 38X is the top-of-theline version of Wavecraft. “Voyager 38X implements intelligent design and state-of-the-art technology to offer a new standard for offshore crew transfer,” says Umoe Mandal vice-president of sales and marketing Are Soreng. “It directly competes with helicopters on levels of safety, comfort, fuel efficiency and overall reduced cost of offshore logistics.” The vessel is also clean and green. Equipped with the latest developments in high-speed diesel engines and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emissions-reduction technologies, the Voyager 38X complies with the USA Coastguard’s EPA Tier4 requirements, an important attribute if the vessel is to appeal to the North American industry. Launched in early 2018, this new offshore support craft is attracting attention from the windfarm and oil and gas industries. In
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
fact, it was these industries that encouraged the group to develop Wavecraft in the first place. The Umoe Mandal shipyard is based on an island near the town of Mandal in southern Norway. It was back in 1988 when Umoe Mandal, then known as Kvaerner Batservice, began to specialise in fibre-reinforced plastic composites. The shipyard’s experience and knowledge grew rapidly, resulting in the build of six of the fastest combat ships in the world, the Skjold Class corvettes, for the Royal Norwegian Navy. As well as building ships, the group has supplied composite materials for a variety of applications where durability and lightness are vital, for example in wind turbines.
Carbon Trust
The development of the Wavecraft Voyager series took three years, starting in 2014. The original inspiration for the vessel came from the Carbon Trust, the not-for-dividend environmental body, which challenged the group to build ships suitable for crews servicing offshore wind turbines. The immediate result was the Sprinter 26 and Commander 27 series, designed for rapid
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OPERATOR PROFILE | 41
transportation over medium to long range. Two of these vessels are operating in the North Sea. They can ferry between 12 to 24 passengers at speeds of up to 45 knots, consuming around 21 litres of fuel a nautical mile. The Wavecraft design is based on surface-effect ship (SES) technology. This represents a big advance on the hovercraft system and has been widely deployed in high-speed naval craft. In effect, SES produces a form of skimming and, among considerable other advantages, SES vessels make a lot less noise than hovercraft. Following this success, several oil and gas companies threw down the gauntlet to Umoe Mandal, requesting a similar kind of offshore support vessel that would ferry crews to platforms located much further offshore than the typical windfarm. The craft had to be faster, have a longer range, and be capable of transporting a lot more people than a helicopter.
The Voyager 38X is equipped with high-speed diesel engines
The enemy
In fact, for the purposes of this exercise, the helicopter became the enemy. As Umoe Mandal CEO Tom Svennevig explained, the vessel would have to operate within a similar timeframe as a helicopter as, “you don’t want your crew spending too long in a boat.” It also had to operate at a much lower cost per passenger, so that the economies were compelling by comparison with rotarywinged flight. And of course, the passengers had to be able to get on and off in complete safety, even in heavy seas.
Wavecraft
As a result the Wavecraft Voyager series was born. Seating between 60 and 150 passengers in comfort depending on the size of the vessel (up to 10 times more than a helicopter) it can cover
700 nm at a speed of 50 knots. Top speed is 55 knots. Umoe Mandal says Wavecraft will transport crews “at a fraction of the cost of a helicopter” and while the group does not want to reveal too many numbers, it suggests savings are much higher than 50% over the flight alternative. The longer the journey, the better the economies of scale. Disembarkation and loading is straightforward. The vessels can be supplied with a gangway and a SeaSpyder system, whereby crews are moved in cabins under a magnetised “passive compensation method” that reduces the load on the wires holding the cabins. According to SeaSpyder, the system allows “any vessel to bring aboard personnel and guests in almost any condition.”
Air cushion
But what happens if the seas get rough? Wavecraft is an aircushioned catamaran using well-established SES technology. Half catamaran and half hovercraft, the vessel sits on a layer of trapped, pressurised air that lifts it partly out of the water, greatly reducing friction between hull and sea. Because the air cushion functions like a giant shock absorber, the vessel is not thrown around as much as would be the case for a deeper-sitting, single-hulled craft constructed in steel or aluminium. Combined with a ‘heave-compensation’ system that reduces the effect of vertical waves, Umoe Mandal claims the vessel can make relatively light work of even heavy conditions. To make life aboard even more comfortable, Wavecraft is equipped with fully-automated, proprietary motion control technology, known as ride control system (RCS) and boarding control system (BCS). The skipper can switch between both, according to whether the vessel is in transit or boarding. For instance, when the skippers are approaching a turbine, they would activate BCS. This greatly reduces heave and pitch motion, so passengers can step more easily onto the installation.
Buoyancy control Umoe Rapid, the second windfarm vessel operating in the North Sea
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When BCS is engaged, the pressure of the air cushion on which Wavecraft sits is adjusted by ventilation valves that counteract the forces of the waves. When the buoyancy of the hulls is increased,
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
42 | OPERATOR PROFILE
the air is ventilated from the cushion and the pressure is reduced, like air being let out of a tyre. But when the buoyancy of the hulls is decreased, air pressure is increased to compensate.
Secrets of success
While Wavecraft is the sum of many parts, it embodies three crucial technologies. First, it is made of strong and lightweight materials that have been developed by Umoe Mandal. Second, it is a catamaran with narrow sea-kindly floats, which create much less drag through the water than a single-hulled craft. And third, the patented lift fans that control the cushion have taken the SES concept a step further. Returning to the bespoke materials used in Wavecraft’s construction, Umoe Mandal is a specialist in composite sandwich materials, which give enormous strength and endurance. The group has a lot of experience in constructing warships out of composites, including menacing-looking stealth vessels. Because of its light construction, Wavecraft boasts a low displacement, which is where many of its advantages stem from, including the fact that it leaves a small wake in shallow waters, even travelling at speed.
More space equals more comfort
Although it can have bouncy characteristics, the catamaran design provides a big platform. According to Umoe Mandal’s calculations, the advantages of an air-cushioned catamaran over a monohull design are indisputable. The engine can be half the capacity (making the vessel lighter), fuel consumption is between 50% and 70% lower at high speed, and range is therefore greater. The larger capacity allows for extra crew amenities so the Wavecraft fleet can be fitted with suspension and reclining seats, entertainment systems and other modern comforts. As Umoe Mandal explains: “Unlike a hovercraft, SES vessels do not depend on speed to rise in the water. Even at a complete standstill, large fans create a cushion, or pocket, of air inside
the enclosure formed between the twin hulls by flexible skirts fore and aft. Rubber finger-type seals in the bow, and a bag seal in the stern, maintain an air-tight pocket. The air cushion is pressurised using air flow effectors; these are typically centrifugal lift fans, which can reduce draft significantly.” Hence the skimming effect.
Tried and tested
The SES concept is far from new. In fact, the US Navy started experimenting with it in the 1960s, producing impressive early results. But early SES designs suffered from the so-called “cobblestone effect” – bouncing, in so many words. This happened at high speed in relatively flat seas. Scientifically speaking, the ‘cobblestone’ phenomenon is a resonance reaction, arising from the compressibility of air in the pocket. Seasickness was an unfortunate result, but today’s RCS system largely mitigates this. So while Wavecraft offers a new concept in offshore ferrying, its fundamental technologies have been thoroughly tried and tested in other vessels. In economic terms, Wavecraft cannot compete with standard, shorter-range, lower-capacity fast ferries. Rather, it comes into its own on longer trips and there are discussions being held about Wavecraft operating as a kind of offshore bus, delivering and picking up from a number of platforms, probably far apart, under a timetable. Mr Soreng is confident the Voyager series will catch on. “The market has been waiting for this,” he said shortly after it was launched. “Any operator that is shuttling crew by helicopter today is thinking about reducing their use. Not only can we offer a commercially viable alternative to helicopters, Wavecraft Voyager really does not have an equivalent vessel in the market for comparison.” Time will tell as to whether Wavecraft does indeed re-shape the offshore transit industry, but it certainly looks promising. OSJ
Umoe Firmus manages the pressure of the air cushion according to wave height, smoothing voyages and increasing access to turbines
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
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44 | IMCA NEWS
‘TRANSPORT WORK’ PROXIES UNSUITABLE FOR DP VESSELS
T
here are few bigger issues currently affecting the shipping industry than the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. IMO's strategy on this issue is being driven by its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), whose role includes conducting a data collection exercise on fuel oil consumption by ships. Ships of 5,000 gt and above will be required to collect consumption data for each type of fuel oil they use, as well as additional specified data, including proxies for 'transport work'. This will follow a three-step approach of: 1. collection of data from 1 January 2019; 2. analysis of the data in autumn 2020; followed by 3. decision-making on what further measures, if any, are required in spring 2022. IMCA holds consultative status at IMO. This enables IMCA and other non-governmental organisations with specialist knowledge to offer information and expert advice to IMO and to express their members’ points of view. IMCA has played an active role in IMO’s work since 1999. In collaboration with the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), it has been supporting MEPC’s work by collecting and analysing data from a sample of 66 dynamic positioning (DP) vessels operated by its board member companies in 2017. Data was collected according to IMO parameters of fuel oil consumption, hours underway and distance travelled. This initiative helped to explain in a factual and realistic way the particular power needs and fuel consumption cycles of DP ships, in comparison with the traditional shipping sector (e.g. containers, oil tankers and bulk carriers). The joint IMCA-IOGP industry paper informed IMO delegates at MEPC's 72nd session, held from 9 to 13 April 2018, that DP ships are designed to use
Offshore Support Journal | June 2018
their full power capability, and hence maximum fuel consumption, in order to remain stationary in an offshore location for safe construction operations. This differs to traditional shipping vessels, which are designed for speed and economic steaming. The research showed that the DP ship market remains niche, with a very different operating mode to the traditional shipping market. For example, the average speed of DP ships is only 1.5 knots, compared with 15-18 knots for traditional shipping vessels. As a result, fuel consumption metrics cannot be effectively comparable. Consequently, it was suggested that the application of 'transport work' proxies should not be extended to DP ships, since such vessels are not transporting cargo, thus the concept of 'transport work' is not appropriate. Furthermore, developing such metrics for such a small and specialised market would attract a heavy administrative burden for both the industry and IMO, for little incremental benefit. The IMCA-IOGP paper proposed that the 'transport work' proxy approach should not be applied to this small and specialised sector of the industry at the second stage of data analysis. Such efficiency indicators must be appropriate; otherwise misleading data would be collected, leading to misinformation for policy makers at the third step of the process. Many IMO Member States supported the paper and were of the view that a uniform approach should be developed to address ship types for which 'transport work' proxies are not currently available and appropriate. IMCA is hopeful that this work will be useful to IMO to assess future fuel efficiency metrics and looks forward to continuing discussions in an effective and cooperative manner at the next MEPC meeting in October 2018. OSJ
Eleni Antoniadou (IMCA policy and regulatory affairs advisor): “The application of 'transport work' proxies should not be extended to DP ships”
Details of the paper can be found on IMCA’s website www.imca-int.com
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