Offshore Support Journal March 2018

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contents

March 2018

volume 21 issue 2

21 10

Regulars 5 COMMENT 25 IMCA NEWS 39 BEST OF THE WEB

News focus 6 As more remote-monitoring solutions are adopted, the move toward autonomous vessels is getting closer

Area reports

26

9 Decommissioning Asia Pacific offshore assets could cost over US$100Bn, so cost reduction is urgently needed 10 Southeast Asia: owners in the region continue to seek to restructure and are looking at new markets 13 US: President Trump would like to open up most of the outer continental shelf to exploration and production

Simulation & training 17 Simwave BV and Kongsberg Digital have completed a site acceptance test for one of the largest, most advanced maritime simulation suites ever delivered

Offshore access/walk-to-work 21 A leading broker says the offshore renewables and oil and gas walk-to-work markets are diverging

30

Propulsion 24 More and more owners are investing in hybrid energy systems based on batteries – the latest to do so is Seacor Marine

Helicopters 26 The market for offshore helicopters is beginning to recover, albeit slowly

Seismic 28 Industry in the US believes that obtaining permits for seismic projects takes too long 29 The market for seismic companies such as PGS is picking up, slowly

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Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

contents New designs 30 A French company, A2V, has developed an aerodynamically-assisted high-speed craft 31 Umoe Mandal’s Wavecraft Voyager family continues to evolve

Operator profile 32 OOS International has developed from a one-man outfit to an international leader in less than a decade

Standby vessels 35 An opportunity outside the standby market has been snapped by Sentinel Marine

Safety alerts 36 Fast rescue craft damaged; lifeboat damaged during drill

Market data

March 2018 volume 21 issue 2 Editor: David Foxwell t: +44 1252 717 898 e: david.foxwell@rivieramm.com Deputy Editor: Martyn Wingrove t: +44 20 8370 1736 e: martyn.wingrove@rivieramm.com Brand Manager – Sales: Ian Glen t: +44 7919 263 737 e: ian.glen@rivieramm.com Sales: Indrit Kruja t: +44 20 8370 7792 e: indrit.kruja@rivieramm.com Sales: Colin Deed t: +44 1239 612384 e: colin.deed@rivieramm.com

40 Statistics 43 VesselsValue

Head of Sales – Asia: Kym Tan t: +65 9456 3165 e: kym.tan@rivieramm.com

Next issue

Sales – Asia & Middle East: Rigzin Angdu t: +65 6809 3198 e: rigzin.angdu@rivieramm.com

• Dynamic positioning • Cranes, A-Frames and winches • Fleet management • Dive support vessels • Bridge systems and electronics • Energy efficient vessels • Autonomous vessel technology Front cover: Vroon Offshore’s walk-to-work/construction support vessel VOS Start was designed to operate in the offshore oil and gas and offshore wind industries (photo: Damen)

Got news for OSJ? Get it to the editorial team today!

Sales – Southeast Asia & Australasia: Kaara Barbour t: +61 414 436 808 e: kaara.barbour@rivieramm.com Production Manager: Sasha Tan t: +44 20 8370 1718 e: sasha.tan@rivieramm.com Subscriptions: Sally Church t: +44 20 8370 7018 e: sally.church@rivieramm.com Chairman: John Labdon Managing Director: Steve Labdon Finance Director: Cathy Labdon Operations Director: Graham Harman Head of Content: Edwin Lampert Executive Editor: Paul Gunton Head of Production: Hamish Dickie Business Development Manager: Steve Edwards Published by: Riviera Maritime Media Ltd Mitre House 66 Abbey Road Enfield EN1 2QN UK

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ISSN 1463-581X (Print) ISSN 2051-0594 (Online) ©2018 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd Disclaimer: Although every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct, the Author and Publisher accept no liability to any party for any inaccuracies that may occur. Any third party material included with the publication is supplied in good faith and the Publisher accepts no liability in respect of content. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, reprinted or stored in any electronic medium or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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COMMENT | 5

VALUES HAVE BOTTOMED OUT BUT CONSOLIDATION NEEDED

V David Foxwell, Editor

essel valuation trends in the offshore segment in 2017 were not ideal for owners, and 2017 is a year that many would probably like to forget. Data from VesselsValue suggests that one of the most positive aspects of the market is the identification of a floor price of around US$5M for a large anchor handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessels (12,000 bhp).

AHTS prices plunged at the start of 2017 but have since levelled off. VesselsValue said a five-year-old AHTS vessel is now notionally below the price of a five-year-old PSV, but the downward momentum has stopped.

2017 also saw a number of transactions in the OSV sector, with Breakwater Capital acquiring the highest valued stake in the OSV market, taking on a little less than US$90M in 2017. The top seller was Hartmann Offshore, which shed a market position of almost identical value. The total deal volume for OSVs was about US$650M by the end of the year.

Turning to idle vessels, VesselsValue said the numbers appear high based on AIS data at about 65.5%, leaving many vessels to return from the sidelines when rates do rebound. The fleet age profile suggests that owners of older vessels should start to consider their long-term plans. The number of distressed operators remains high as market participants struggle to survive the weak market.

Scrapping will remain a critical element in the removal of excess units, particularly for MODUs, but as observed before in OSJ, smaller vessels such as OSVs may not see much relief because of their very low value as scrap. Overall, it’s still too early to say whether rising oil prices will help rates in 2018, but the good news is that the lowest asset values are probably in the rear-view mirror.

That asset values are no longer in decline is good news, but there is still a long way to go before the industry recovers, as industry leaders at the 2018 Annual OSJ Conference, Awards & Exhibition in February 2018 told delegates.

Solstad Farstad’s chief executive Lars Peder Solstad told the conference that the financial turmoil of the last two years for the industry had been a game changer and changed forever the way the industry does business. Consolidation is the new order although, as Mr Solstad pointed out, the merger of Norwegian shipowners Solstad Offshore, Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and Rem Maritime to create Solstad Farstad was to date the only major consolidation that the industry has seen. Industry’s failure to consolidate, said Mr Solstad, meant that the only winners in the market today are his clients.

Right now, he said, there are 57 vessels on the spot market in Norway and the UK owned by 25 companies, and the going rate is £6,000/day or, to quote Mr Solstad, the equivalent of “having a lawyer in the office for a day or two”. OSJ

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Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

6 | NEWS FOCUS

Remote-controlled solutions provide path to autonomous operation AS MORE AND MORE REMOTEMONITORING SOLUTIONS ARE ADOPTED, THE MOVE TOWARD AUTONOMOUS VESSELS IS GETTING CLOSER,INDUSTRY EXPERTS SAY

R

emote monitoring and control technology has long been used to help owners and oil companies advance the case for remote and autonomous operation, a technology trend that started with monitoring fuel consumption and engine performance on vessels. Now, oil companies and offshore vessel owners are extending the use of the technology, and have begun trialling fully autonomous units.

Miclyn Express Offshore (MEO) fleet manager Captain Sanket Ashok Shukla told OSJ that his company would be willing to consider remotely controlled or autonomous vessels in the future.

His comments followed a seminar on future-proofing the offshore industry hosted by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.

During that event, Rolls-Royce Marine senior vice president for concepts, innovation and digital systems Oskar Levander said he expected a commercial remote-controlled or autonomous vessel to be operating in 2020.

There is a lot of development work to de done

before the maritime industry gets to that technology level.

Captain Sanket is concerned that “autonomous vessels would be exposed to marine environments and operating around platforms”, which means there would be less room to manoeuvre if there was some kind of failure.

He added that adoption of autonomous vessel

technology would need to be done in steps, starting with controlled operations.

“Remotely operated vessels would be a great advantage,” Captain Sanket added.

In the meantime, offshore support vessel operators are reducing costs through adoption of vesselmonitoring technology.

MEO Middle East operations manager Ravinder Hoonjan said “Oil companies are putting more focus on cutting fuel costs.” This is why he would recommend that “vessel owners need to monitor and manage better the fuel consumption” on their ships.

Seacor Offshore senior vice president Anthony Weller said his company had invested in fuel monitoring on vessels. He said this technology and remote maintenance had made vessels and engines more efficient.

“We can be competitive with more efficient engines and fuel monitoring on our vessels for our clients,” he said.

Having been at the forefront of this trend for remotely operated and autonomous vessels for some time, RollsRoyce has opened a stateof-the-art research facility in Turku, Finland, to develop the technologies it and its partners require to shape the future of an increasingly more autonomous global shipping industry.

The new Research & Development Centre for Autonomous Ships includes a Remote and Autonomous Experience Space aimed at showcasing the autonomous ship technologies Rolls-Royce has already introduced as well as those in the development stage.

The new R&D Centre enables Rolls-Royce and its partners to carry out projects

Rolls-Royce has opened a research facility in Turku to develop autonomous technology

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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NEWS FOCUS | 7

focused on autonomous navigation, the development of land-based control centres and the use of artificial intelligence in future remote and autonomous shipping operations.

Speaking at the official opening in January 2018, RollsRoyce president for marine Mikael Makinen said “I’m proud to say that the R&D centre is now up and running and that all stakeholders, partners and customers will be able see here what a remote-controlled and autonomous maritime future could look like and work with us to shape the future. The Experience Space that is part of the centre here in Turku, and a similar one we have in our Technology Centre in Norway, is aimed at demonstrating to our customers the very tangible benefits of what is often considered an intangible technology.”

The Experience Space includes several interactive tables on which Rolls-Royce can showcase existing and future technologies while aiding the development and introduction of new rules and standards for autonomous shipping.

“The centre allows us to more accurately communicate our capabilities, what we have available today and what will be available tomorrow,” said Rolls-Royce senior vice president for ship intelligence Karno Tenovuo.

“It will completely focus on the development of solutions capable of smoothing the maritime industry’s transition to the digital age.

An autonomous maritime ecosystem will open up unprecedented opportunities.”

Rolls-Royce director for marine digital and systems Asbjørn Skaro said the company is exploring and testing how to combine sensor technologies effectively and affordably. “Pilot projects will allow us to see how they can be best adapted to the needs of the customer

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and their crews so that our product effectively meets the needs of both,” he explained.

“Successful pilots and product development programmes are also an important step towards the further development of remote and autonomous vessels and to meeting our goal of having a remotecontrolled ship in commercial use by the end of the decade.”

Rolls-Royce expects to be able to undertake an approval of concept and have its intelligent awareness product commercially available in 2018. The system builds on experiences from R&D work worldwide. The intelligent awareness system will benefit from Rolls-Royce’s extensive experience in the Tekes-funded project Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative, which has been running since June 2015.

Leading offshore vessel operator Bourbon has also taken a first leap into fleet digitalisation through a strategic partnership with classification society Bureau Veritas. With the help of Kongsberg Maritime and Airbus subsidiary Apsys, Bourbon will test digital technology for remote monitoring of offshore support vessels.

Bureau Veritas and Bourbon will jointly develop and deploy automation, realtime monitoring applications and develop new digital technology, while mitigating cyber risks. But first, they will test some of these smart-ship technologies for verification of dynamic positioning (DP) operations in real time.

A pilot has been implemented on Bourbon Explorer 508, which is operating in waters off Trinidad. This monitoring technology was developed by Kongsberg Maritime, which is already a strategic partner of Bourbon and is certified by Bureau Veritas.

It collects data from the

ASV Global’s autonomous unit reduced costs and was more flexible than a manned vessel

DP system that can be used on board and by onshore support teams to improve DP operations. Bourbon expects this to improve safety and reduce fuel and DP maintenance costs.

Apsys is helping the partners to identify and mitigate cyber security risks linked to data collection and communication between Bourbon’s vessels and onshore infrastructure. It will also help Bureau Veritas create certification and class notations covering cyber security.

Unmanned units are already being used offshore

for a growing number of applications, including an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that has been conducting surveys on behalf of Saudi Aramco.

The AUV has been used to conduct surveys of debris on the seabed and for pipeline inspection. Saudi Aramco said that using the AUV means that a job that would otherwise require a US$50M survey vessel can now be done quickly and economically with a US$2.5M unmanned unit. The AUV, which is of modular design, can also be adapted for a wide range of potential missions.

Unmanned surface vessel reduces cost of pipelay project An autonomous surface vessel has been used for the first time on a pipelay project, monitoring touchdown from the pipelay vessel Seven Antares.

UK-based ASV Global said one of its C-Worker 7-class autonomous surface vessels was fitted with a survey suite including multibeam echo sounder and sidescan sonar for the project. It was controlled by the pipelay vessel.

The C-Worker 7 operated for 37 days in this role. Use of the autonomous vessel eliminated the need for an additional survey vessel, resulting in significant cost savings. The C-Worker 7 also provided greater operational flexibility due to its superior endurance and improved availability compared to an equivalent manned vessel.

In addition, its use resolved the technical challenge of surveying in very shallow waters and removed the risk to personnel working at sea in a small craft.

Vessel trials and testing took place in the Solent, UK, before the vessel was mobilised from ASV’s UK headquarters for the project, offshore Egypt. OSJ

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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Southeast Asia AREA REPORT | 9

Without cost reduction, Asia Pacific decommissioning bill could hit US$100Bn Decommissioning the Asia Pacific’s offshore assets – nearly 2,600 platforms and 35,000 wells – could cost over US$100Bn, so cost reduction is urgently needed

D

ecommissioning in the Asia Pacific region appears to be a mammoth task for which stakeholders are largely unprepared, according to Wood Mackenzie. Unclear government regulations coupled with a general lack of experience in the region could mean a steep learning curve with high initial costs and potential for mistakes.

Wood Mackenzie’s Asia upstream analyst Jean-Baptiste Berchoteau said “With over 380 fields expecting to cease production in the next decade, the magnitude and cost of work can no longer be ignored.

Through learning from global decommissioning projects, the industry can adopt and adapt practices best suited for the Asia Pacific’s own set of challenges.”

Wood Mackenzie has identified four levers to cut costs and decommission Asia Pacific on a budget. The first is transferring knowledge between regulators, operators and service sector firms. To establish a functional regulatory framework, it would be more efficient to adopt guidelines and processes already in place elsewhere in the UK or the Gulf of Mexico, rather than reinventing the wheel.

Operators, particularly those with extensive experience in offshore asset retirement, also have a key part to play in helping draft regulations.

For instance, Chevron and Shell are already collaborating

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with Thai and Bruneian regulators respectively through knowledge transfer and pilot project initiatives.

“While the primary focus should be on cutting costs and maintaining health and safety standards, this is a great opportunity for countries in the region to develop service sector expertise through knowledge transfer,” said senior analyst Prasanth Kakaraparthi.

The second is choosing an optimal commercial and contracting strategy. Sound project management and pragmatic contracting strategies are critical to avoid cost blowouts. While the majors have the necessary skills inhouse, other players are expected to use project management companies to help execute projects on a strict timeline and within budget. The three most common contracting strategies – lump sum, unit cost and day rate – are suited to different levels of risk. The well plugging and abandonment (P&A) phase is usually the riskiest, as live hydrocarbons are involved and there is poor availability of data on well conditions. As such, unit cost contracts, where the contractor performs well P&A or facility removal at a fixed cost per unit that includes a margin, appear better suited for projects in Asia Pacific.

Adapting innovative technology is a third way to reduce costs. More recently, the industry has seen innovative approaches to conventional

decommissioning with the potential for significant cost savings. For instance, Petronas implemented the rig-to-reef solution on two platforms at the Dana and D-30 fields in Block SK-305 offshore Malaysia in 2017.

Rig-to-reef consists of using the decontaminated platform structures to create an artificial reef at a designated location. In addition to being significantly cheaper, rig-toreef provides an eco-friendly solution for sustaining habitats for marine life. The technique is particularly attractive at water depths of 10 to 30 m, where reef structures and associated marine life are the most prolific.

Economies of scale could provide a fourth costreduction lever. On average, well P&A accounts for half of decommissioning costs, so any cost reduction in this category

will have a significant impact – 30–50% cost reductions have already been observed in the Gulf of Mexico and the UK on rig daily rate or unit rate contracts. For areas with a large number of ageing wells and platforms, batch decommissioning offers huge cost-saving opportunities.

This approach could be extended further, across blocks with different operators, with participants jointly contracting for a larger piece of work, thus reducing perunit costs.

“While the decommissioning situation in Asia Pacific might look grim at the moment, we note that Chevron is taking a proactive approach in the Gulf of Thailand, and we expect the major to set a benchmark for large-scale decommissioning costs in the region,” concluded Mr Berchoteau. OSJ

The potential cost of decommissioning in the Asia Pacific region means new solutions will be required

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

10 | AREA REPORT Southeast Asia

Cash-strapped Asian owners look to refinance and find new markets Pacific Radiance is pressing ahead with restructuring and planning a foray into offshore wind as work continues to find a solution to Emas Offshore’s problems

S

ingapore-based offshore vessel owner Pacific Radiance held another informal meeting with noteholders in January and says it plans to diversify into new markets, including offshore wind energy.

The company is seeking a ‘consensual restructuring’ of its borrowings and held an initial informal meeting with the holders of its notes late last year. On 10 January 2018, it convened a second informal meeting with noteholders.

At the second meeting, it proposed

a plan that would see full conversion of S$100M (US$76M) of notes to equity, a total of 300,000,000 new shares to be issued with no lock-up period, the value of the shares at S$36M based on S$0.119 per share and S$4.3M to be released from an escrow account. Noteholders would have an option to liquidate shares or hold. The plan would see them receive around 40 cents for every Singapore dollar they had invested in the company. If they accept the plan at an upcoming EGM, they would then receive three shares in the restructured

company for every dollar, and Pacific Radiance would make coupon payments to the tune of S$4.3M in the escrow account.

The company emphasised that it had spent much of the last couple of years right-sizing its fleet and said it has 36 vessels in layup to reduce maintenance costs. It has also reduced headcount by 35% and enforced a substantial wage reduction for senior management and suspended bonus payouts. The headcount has also been reduced at corporate/ management level.

Pacific Radiance said its major lenders are supportive, but terms are still being negotiated. It has received strong interest from potential investors.

The company’s management believes the market is at its inflection point and the business is viable in the long run. “Companywide, employees are now doing more work

Emas Offshore, one of whose vessels is shown here, has found a white knight but its banks have rejected a restructuring plan

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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Southeast Asia AREA REPORT | 11

with less resources and are exploring every avenue to cut cost without losing quality,” said Pacific Radiance in a presentation.

Post-restructuring, management envisages that the company will emerge as an even stronger entity, well placed to benefit from market recovery. It has close working relations with high-quality partners in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East and Mexico, and through its partners, it enjoys access to cabotage restrictions, allowing the company to operate at a full commercial coverage of the market.

The presentation said the company is aiming to diversify beyond oil price-related services and sectors such as offshore wind and liquefied natural gas. It hopes to expand its customer base to include wind turbine manufacturers as well as offshore windfarm developers.

DBS and UOB have rejected a restructuring plan put forward by another well-known owner in the region, Emas Offshore, but dialogue continues as a solution is sought to the troubled firm’s financial situation.

In an update about the company’s proposed restructuring effort, Emas Offshore said that, on 11 January 2018, DBS Bank Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd filed joint affidavits in response to scheme applications filed by the offshore vessel

Pacific Radiance believes that the market is picking up and that demand for its vessels will grow

company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Emas Offshore Pte Ltd. DBS Bank and UOB said they were not prepared to agree to the terms of the restructuring proposals as they currently stand. However, DBS Bank and UOB are, at this stage, prepared to continue discussions with the companies on a revised proposal or any other proposal from investors.

The hearing date for the scheme applications is 19 March 2018. In the meantime, the company is engaged in discussions with DBS Bank and UOB and with investors to come to a consensus on a revised proposal.

The board of directors of Emas Offshore also recently confirmed that Captain Adarash Kumar has tendered his resignation as an executive director and chief executive officer, and his last day of service will be on 6 April 2018.

In September 2017, Emas Offshore signed term sheets with ‘white knights’ who said they would make a cash investment in the company. Emas Offshore said the companies involved are BT Investment Pte Ltd (BTI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Baker Technology Ltd, and Point Hope Pte Ltd, but noted that it still needed to undertake a restructuring of its secured and unsecured liabilities.

Gulf Navigation to acquire Atlantic Navigation Holdings Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC is planning to acquire a majority stake in Atlantic Navigation Holdings (Singapore) Ltd. Atlantic is an integrated offshore supply operation engaged in marine logistic services, shiprepair, fabrication and other marine services. It serves customers in the Middle East and India. It is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with total assets of US$177M. Gulf Navigation said it is in discussions with oil companies in the Gulf region to provide project solutions and offshore services.

The potential acquisition will propel the business forward and create added opportunities that both companies can deliver.

Atlantic currently operates a fleet of 25 vessels and has seven

newbuild offshore support vessels on order, which are being built to fulfil contracts awarded by a Middle Eastern national oil company (NOC). The duration of the charter is five years plus two years of options. It has a potential value of US$236M. Atlantic also owns a 50% share in a consortium due to undertake a US$45M decommissioning project with a Middle Eastern NOC. The project is the first of its kind and entails demolition and removal of offshore and onshore structures in an abandoned oil field in Abu Dhabi. Under the terms of the agreement for the project, Atlantic has the first right of refusal in providing the entire marine spread required for the project.

SAPURA ENERGY SECURES SEVERAL CONTRACTS Subsidiaries of Sapura Energy Berhad (formerly known as SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad) have been awarded contracts with a combined value of approximately RM905M (US$230M).

Sapura Fabrication Sdn Bhd has been awarded a contract to undertake engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning for the Kinarut ERB west compressor upgrade

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project on behalf of Petronas. It has also been awarded a contract to undertake the work on the Bokor Betty brownfield and rejuvenation project for the same client.

The company has also secured a contract for provision of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and installation of the Phase 2 facilities for the North Malay Basin project for Hess Exploration and Production Malaysia BV. OSJ

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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US AREA REPORT | 13

OPENING OCS TO E&P COULD CREATE OSV WORK – EVENTUALLY

O

n 4 January 2018 the US secretary of the interior announced the next step for developing the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024.

The secretary of the interior said he proposes to make over 90% of the total OCS acreage and more than 98% of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federal offshore areas available for future exploration and development.

Doing so could create work and employment opportunities throughout offshore oil and gas supply chain including, eventually, for offshore support vessels, but the plan has already aroused an adverse reaction from many of the states involved and will take years to come to fruition, if indeed it does. In comparison, the current programme puts 94% of the OCS off limits. In addition, the programme proposes the largest number of lease sales in US history.

“Responsibly developing our energy resources on the outer continental shelf in a safe and well-regulated way is important to our economy and energy security, and it provides billions of dollars to fund the conservation of our coastlines, public lands and parks,” said Secretary Zinke.

“This announcement lays out the options that are on the table and starts a lengthy and

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MORE THAN 90% OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT UNDER PLANS DETAILED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, RYAN ZINKE

NOIA president Randall Luthi said dropping Florida from the offshore plan was “premature”

Secretary Zinke said offshore energy resources are important to the US economy

robust public comment period.

Just like with mining, not all areas are appropriate for offshore drilling, and we will take that into consideration in the coming weeks. The important thing is we strike the right balance to protect our coasts and people while still powering America and achieving American energy dominance."

Earlier this year, 155 members of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate sent letters to Secretary Zinke in support of a new five-year plan that recognises America’s potential for ‘energy dominance.’

The Draft Proposed Program (DPP) includes 47 potential lease sales in 25 of the 26 planning areas – 19 sales off the coast of Alaska, seven in the Pacific region, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, and nine in the Atlantic region.

This is the largest number of lease sales ever proposed for the National OCS Program’s five-year lease schedule.

“By proposing to open up nearly the entire OCS for potential oil and gas exploration, the United States can advance the goal of moving from aspiring for energy independence to attaining energy dominance,” said Vincent DeVito, counsellor for energy policy at Interior.

“This decision could bring unprecedented access to America’s extensive offshore oil and gas resources and allows us to better compete with other oilrich nations.”

Release of the DPP is an

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

14 | AREA REPORT US

early step in a multi-year process to develop a final National OCS Program for 2019-2024.

“This plan is an early signal to the global marketplace that the US intends to remain a global leader in responsible offshore energy development and produce affordable American energy for many decades to come,” said Katharine MacGregor, principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management.

“This proposed plan shows our commitment to a vibrant offshore energy economy that supports the thousands of men and women working in the offshore energy industry, from supply vessels to rig crews.”

Inclusion of an area in the DPP is not a final indication that it will be included in the approved programme or offered in a lease sale, because many decision points still remain. By proposing to open these areas for consideration, the secretary ensures that he will receive public input and analysis on all of the available OCS to better inform future decisions on the National OCS Program.

“American energy production can be competitive while remaining safe and environmentally sound,” said acting BOEM director Walter Cruickshank.

“Public input is a crucial part of this process, and we hope to hear from industry groups, elected officials, other government agencies, concerned citizens and others as we move forward with developing the 2019-2024 National OCS Program.”

Among the first states to object to the plan was Florida, whose governor, Rick Scott, quickly arranged a meeting with US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

After that meeting, the Department of the Interior announced that Florida’s coastline had been removed from consideration for future

oil drilling.

Oil industry representatives were not best pleased with the about turn. National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi issued the following statement on secretary Zinke’s recent announcement regarding Florida offshore waters.

“The announcement by the Secretary that he is considering limiting areas offshore Florida is disappointing and premature.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) clearly outlines a deliberative, inclusive and lengthy review process before any preliminary leasing proposals are finalised.

The conversation to be had around the draft proposed offshore leasing plan should include modern technology, science and America’s energy demand and security.

“Today’s advanced offshore technology allows exploration to take place miles away from coastal communities and with very limited surface installations or visual impact. Science and decades of experience show that oil and natural gas exploration and development is not only compatible, but is complementary with tourism, fishing and enhancement of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems.

“Removing areas offshore Florida this early in the planning process prematurely curtails dialogue and thorough study of the possibilities for future development of offshore resources that could provide additional energy and jobs for working Floridians.

“The secretary’s announcement has not eliminated the need for a comprehensive dialogue about America’s long-term offshore energy promise.

Through the OCSLA process, as initiated by the Secretary, all stakeholders are given the opportunity to

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

comment. Having heard from the governor of Florida, we look forward to commenting and sharing our views on

what resources, owned by the American people, should be open and considered for exploration and production.”

SEACOR PRESSES AHEAD WITH LIFTBOAT JV A joint venture that combines liftboats operated by Seacor Marine, Montco Offshore and an affiliate of Montco has been formed.

Seacor Marine Holdings said the plan of reorganisation for Montco Offshore has been confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

The plan of reorganisation, among other things, provides that, under the terms of a joint venture contribution and formation agreement, Seacor Marine and Montco will jointly form and capitalise a new joint venture company by contributing certain liftboat vessels and other related assets to the JV, as well as requiring it to assume certain operating liabilities and indebtedness associated with the liftboat vessels and related assets.

The JV would consolidate the ownership and operation of 11 liftboat vessels operated by a subsidiary of Seacor Marine, six liftboats operated by Montco and two liftboats operated by an existing joint venture between an affiliate of Montco and an affiliate of Seacor Marine.

In mid-2017, Seacor Marine Holdings confirmed it had launched a ‘stalking horse bid’ to form a joint venture with Montco Offshore. Montco Offshore filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code earlier that year. A stalking horse bid is an attempt to test the market for a debtor's assets in advance of an auction of them.

Seacor Marine envisaged that the companies would form a JV in which Seacor Marine would be the majority owner of equity.

Seacor Marine would also assume approximately US$130M of indebtedness from Montco Offshore and the JV would assume approximately US$76M of indebtedness from Seacor Marine.

GULFMARK OFFSHORE FORMS MEXICAN PARTNERSHIP GulfMark Offshore has entered into a partnership with Marcos y Asociados Infraestructura y Energia SC (Marcos y Asociados) through a Mexican joint venture entity, GulfMark Servicios de Mexico S de RL de CV with an aim of expanding its activities in Mexico.

The joint venture, which is majority Mexican-owned, will provide Mexican and foreign flagged offshore support vessels to GulfMark’s Mexican customer base.

Marcos y Asociados, established in 1995, is a financial consulting and business development firm specializing in the Mexico energy industry with an active presence in the sector. OSJ

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SIMULATION & TRAINING | 17

DUTCH TRAINING FACILITY IS HOST TO WIDE RANGE OF SIMULATORS Simwave BV and Kongsberg Digital have completed a site acceptance test for one of the largest, most advanced maritime simulation suites ever delivered

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aving completed all relevant tests by mid-January 2018, a new training facility capable of serving the offshore and marine industries has opened at the Simwave Maritime Centre of Excellence in Barendrecht, Rotterdam.

Apart from no less than eight K-Pos DP Basic dynamic positioning simulators, the facility also has a K-Sim Offshore simulator with Kongberg K-Pos DP2 NI Class A and 360° field-of-view unit configured for tug and support vessel training.

The successful acceptance test, which took place on19 January 2018, means that the new Simwave Maritime Centre of Excellence in Barendrecht is now fully operational.

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As the sole simulation technology partner in the development of the unique Simwave facility, Kongsberg Digital delivered the full scope of work in accordance with the contract awarded in April 2017, which represented one of its most extensive deliveries to date. Following the site acceptance test, all technical aspects of the delivery, a unique new floor projection system and a complete integrated engineroom are performing above expectations.

Simwave’s training facility covers more than 5,000 m2 across two floors containing Kongsberg simulators, meeting rooms, offices and welfare facilities.

In addition to the simulation equipment mentioned above, Kongsberg

The Simwave Maritime Centre of Excellence in Barendrecht, Rotterdam is now fully operational

Digital’s scope of supply for the Simwave facility covers multiple full-mission and parttask simulators for ship’s bridge and engineroom operations, based on the latest simulator technology platforms. The contract also includes a fiveyear long-term system support programme (LTSSP), which guarantees dedicated support and access to technology updates in addition to a planned mid-life upgrade at the end of the LTSSP. “The partnership between Kongsberg Digital and

Simwave brings possibilities for further development and allows Simwave to meet its full potential as the training centre of choice for the maritime industry,” said Kongsberg Digital’s senior vice president, maritime simulation, ToneMerete Hansen.

“We are delighted to have completed installation of one of our largest integrated simulator deliveries ever in such a short timeframe due to dedicated and good co-operation between us and Simwave. We are looking

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

18 | SIMULATION & TRAINING

forward to continuing our co-operation with Simwave in Rotterdam and at new Simwave facilities planned for in the future.”

In addition to the equipment mentioned above, the full scope of supply for the Simwave delivery includes the following: • One K-Sim Navigation full mission bridge simulator to DNV GL Class A with 360° field-of-view and floor projector configuration.

• Two K-Sim Navigation full mission bridge simulators with 180° field-of-view.

• Eight K-Sim Navigation part-task simulators for navigation proficiency.

• One K-Sim Navigation full mission inland waterway bridge simulator with 240° field-of-view.

• One K-Sim Navigation inland waterway bridge simulator with 60° field-of-view.

• One K-Sim Engine full mission engineroom simulator with unique 3D wall projection • One K-Sim Engine high voltage breaker interfaced to DE22-III and DEDF 21 LNG carrier.

• Eight K-Sim Engine desktop engineroom simulators.

• Eight K-Sim Cargo simulators.

• 12 GMDSS desktop simulators.

• Eight K-Pos DP Basic dynamic positioning simulators.

• One K-Sim exercise area modelling tool.

• One K-Sim HDMT ship modelling tool.

• Train the trainer programmes.

The next step in the Simwave project is to develop a hotel facility on the top floor of the building for customers and trainees, enabling training to take place 24 hours per day, seven days a week, which is an ability that Simwave believes will be a key differentiator in its approach to maritime training. The on-site hotel in Rotterdam is due to be completed in Q2 2018.

RGU LAUNCHES DECOM SIMULATOR Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) has launched a simulator to service the growing decommissioning sector and activity in the UK and other parts of the world.

The simulator was built by RGU in collaboration with funding partners The Oil & Gas Technology Centre and KCA Deutag and Drilling Systems, with technical support from Baker Hughes, a GE company, and will focus on well plugging and abandonment (P&A).

P&A is an area that is forecast to cost the UK more than £8Bn (US$11Bn) over the next decade, with around 2,500 wells expected to be decommissioned across the UK, Danish, Dutch and Norwegian Continental Shelves.

RGU’s Oil and Gas Institute’s director Professor Paul de Leeuw believes the development of the simulator will have numerous benefits for the industry. “By providing this facility at RGU to simulate well decommissioning, we will ultimately be able to enhance safety and reduce the cost of well P&A,” he said.

“Operators and drilling contractors will

be able to use the simulator to develop the technical and non-technical skills and capabilities of their rig crews for decommissioning wells, while improving team performance. Students will also benefit from training and development on the simulator.”

PAUL DE LEEUW: "simulator will have numerous benefits"

THE UNDERWATER CENTRE SUPPORTS SUB RESCUE SYSTEM Best known for its role training commercial divers, The Underwater Centre at Fort William in Scotland recently delivered two bespoke remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and hyperbaric system acquaintance training courses as well as providing 19 days of operational support to JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, as part of its training delivery to one of the world’s largest navies.

Training delivery began with The Underwater Centre’s specialist diving team creating and delivering a theoretical and practical four-day hyperbaric system acquaintance course to 12 delegates covering topics such as hyperbaric systems, chamber control and procedures, gas handling and analysers, plus an overview of decompression tables. Delegates also received practical experience of The Underwater Centre’s barge-based saturation system, diving bell, transfer lock and main chamber.

For the practical training, JFD teamed up with U-Boat Worx with the provision

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

of its SYS3.21 three-person submersible, allowing the delegates to become familiar with submersible operations. JFD also used a range of The Underwater Centre’s facilities to store and mobilise the submersible, as well as deliver the training, including 30-tonne crane, mechanical workshop, classrooms, FRC, workboat fitted with a crane and flat-bed truck.

A theory and vessel-based bespoke two-day ROV acquaintance course was also created and delivered, incorporating The Underwater Centre’s onshore workshop, work-class ROV (WROV) VMAX simulator and vessel-based operational WROV and launch and recovery system. Delegates received a range of informative lectures around ROV systems, standard operational procedures including pre-dive checks and launch and recovery system procedures. The bespoke course concluded with practical learning on board The Underwater Centre’s dedicated WROV vessel where LARS operations and procedures were praticed. OSJ

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OFFSHORE ACCESS/WALK-TO-WORK | 21

Renewables and offshore oil gas walk-to-work markets ‘decoupling,’ broker says Customers for walk-to-work ships are getting more discerning but are not prepared to pay more than a standard subsea vessel would normally secure

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ubsea vessels have long been used in the offshore wind industry for walkto-work duties, but charterers are getting more discerning, and day rates for offshore access ships are in the doldrums.

Tim Boerner, a broker at Global Renewables Shipbrokers in Germany, told OSJ that he believes that the markets for walk-to-work services in the offshore wind and offshore oil and gas industries are diverging.

“Utilising walk-to-work vessels has been common practice in the offshore wind industry since 2014,” he said.

“Since the downturn in the offshore oil and gas market, highly specialised offshore construction vessels have been seeking alternative employment in the offshore wind industry, undertaking accommodation and transfer of personnel and cargo to substations and wind turbines utilising motion compensated gangway systems.

However, subsea vessels weren’t built specifically for this market, he noted, and charterers’ expectations and the level of their requirement has

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grown and grown. “Despite this trend,” said Mr Boerner, “shipowners have not been able to benefit from these developments in the form of

increased charter rates.

From end of 2014 until now, we have seen quite the reverse, he said, with day rates declining and coming down to around €17,000–28,000 (US$21,000– 34,000) (including gangway systems) per day. At this point, he said, even a vessel’s age, size and other specifications don’t seem to play an important role in charter rates for walk-to-work ships. This has, he said, led to a “one-pricefits-all” attitude by charterers.

“Considering the cost of building these vessels and the

fact that owners have to pay the provider of the gangway (in the case of a rental agreement for an offshore access system), it appears self-evident that this can be no healthy business to any shipowner in the long run,” Mr Boerner said. “In short, it is all about reducing losses and generating at least some cash flow rather than earning any money.”

Charterers continue to expect shipowners to fulfil their commercial expectations, even with rates as low as this, and

Acta Auriga will start work in German waters in the German Bight, approximately 200 km offshore

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

22 | WALK-TO-WORK/OFFSHORE ACCESS

keep setting their budgets in the above-mentioned range for walk-to-work ships.

“How can their expectations be accommodated?” Mr Boerner asked, particularly for purposebuilt walk-to-work vessels that are built and financed based on the expectation of that kind of day rate.

“With some exemptions, custom-built newbuildings are only entering the market after having been awarded a longterm contract with one of the big players in the market, with the necessary project pipeline to utilise a vessel over several years. These vessels will only become available in the spot market in 5–10 years – if at all,” Mr Boerner noted.

But what about short and medium-term demand for walk-to-work vessels? As highlighted above, currently a lot of the demand in the renewables sector is being met by assets from the offshore oil and gas market, but the number of suitable vessels is declining as charterers’ needs become more sophisticated. Nowadays, they want single-cabin

accommodation for windfarm technicians, more deck space, greater crane capacity and vessels that comply with the requirements of the SPS Code.

Some owners, but not that many, have been willing to invest in speculative newbuildings for the renewable energy market but make sure that these vessels can also work in the offshore oil and gas industry if required. Bibby WaveMaster 1 is a classic example of this, having secured work in the offshore oil and gas and offshore wind industries since being delivered. Acta Marine’s Acta Auriga – and the near sister vessel that the company announced at the Offshore Wind Journal Conference in London in February, a walk-to-work/ construction support vessel – is another example.

“Until these more highly specified newbuildings are available in sufficient numbers, we will see a minimum of one to two years of shortage of suitable vessels starting later in 2018, at least in the price range charterers have come to expect,” Mr Boerner

said. Only if charterers settle for vessels with lower-quality accommodation or smaller numbers of berths on board will the door be opened to less highly specified vessels, he suggested.

Overall, he said, he expects the walk-to-work markets for offshore oil and gas and renewables will ‘decouple’ and create their own dynamics, he said.

Suppliers of offshore access systems have their own take on the market. Ampelmann agreed that the walk-to-work market is evolving and highlighted the fact that offshore access systems are evolving too.

In the last 12 months, the company has enhanced a number of its systems to ensure it is continuing to improve offshore personnel and cargo transfers in any environment.

Its flagship A-type gangway was the first product to be commercially deployed in 2008.

It is still one of the most widely used systems, but in 2017, the company launched the A-type Enhanced Performance (AEP) gangway to bridge the gap between the A-type – which can operate in wave heights of up to

3 m – and the E-type, which is suited to harsher sea states.

The AEP can be operated in sea states up to 4 m significant wave height and can be used on small vessels to obtain similar performance compared to the original A-type. It has an advanced motion compensation control system to enable fast landing and comfortable people transfer.

Ampelmann’s E1000 gangway, launched in 2016, is an adaptable access system that has the ability to transform from a gangway into a crane boom to provide full logistics requirements. The gangway, mostly used in the offshore wind sector, traditionally used pins to be manually switched from personnel to cargo mode. This conversion process initially took at least 10 minutes to perform.

In 2017, the company enhanced the system, and an adaptable E1000 gangway was launched with an automated system that employs remotecontrolled hydraulic pin pushers to fixate the gangway booms in less than one minute with a single button. The system can

The feedback it has received about the FCS 7011 has led to Damen building the first of the type on spec

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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OFFSHORE ACCESS/WALK-TO-WORK | 23

safely transfer people and up to 1,000 kg of cargo in wave weights up to 4.5 m Hs. In its first year in operation, the system has already undertaken more than 12,000 people transfers and 7,000 cargo lifts between vessels and wind turbines.

Acta Auriga, one of the vessels highlighted above that can work in the offshore oil and gas market and offshore wind energy industry, is to start work on the 400 MW Bard Offshore 1 windfarm, having been contracted by Ocean Breeze Energy for operations and maintenance work.

Ocean Breeze Energy is the owner/operator of the windfarm.

The contract is for a twoyear charter of Acta Marine’s newbuild, which was approaching completion at Ulstein shipyard in Norway at the time of writing in early February. The vessel was due to be delivered by the end of Q1 2018.

Acta Auriga is an Ulstein design with the company’s X-BOW and X-STERN hull shape and dynamic positioning class 2 and is equipped with a motion compensated gangway from SMST with integrated elevator and crane functionality.

The vessel is also able to undertake 3D-compensated lifts with its 6-tonne SMST crane and is equipped with a fuel-efficient drive system.

In total, 120 people can be accommodated on the ship. The 93.4 m vessel is also equipped with covered warehousing facilities and will provide stepless transfer to offshore installations and will operate from Emden in Germany.

As also highlighted above, Acta Marine has placed a contract for a second ship of the type. Like Acta Auriga, the vessel will have the Ulstein X-STERN and X-BOW, and with most of the main equipment and operations in the aft ship, the vessel will operate stern first whilst in the field, keeping its X-STERN towards the weather, which

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will mean that there will be no slamming, and noise and vibration will be minimised so crew and windfarm technicians will get plenty of rest between shifts. The second vessel is scheduled for delivery in Q2 2019.

Another company that has chosen to build purposedesigned units that operate in the offshore oil and gas and renewables sectors, Vroon Offshore Services, recently announced that it had joined forces with Ampelmann

to deploy a walk-to-work solution on the Arkona offshore windfarm in the Baltic. Vroon’s VOS Stone, the latest addition to its offshore fleet, will be mobilised with an Ampelmann A400 gangway system. The vessel was due to deploy in March 2018 with the project due to be completed

by September. Ampelmann’s business development manager for offshore wind Claudia Beumer said this would be the A400’s first commercial project.

VOS Stone is a newbuilding

subsea-support W2W vessel designed to deliver safe and highly versatile support services to the offshore renewable and offshore oil and gas industries.

It is equipped with a 50-tonne active heave compensated crane, high-standard accommodation and recreational facilities for 60 client personnel.

The joint contract further strengthens the long-standing partnership between Vroon and Ampelmann, which have collaborated on a number of projects since 2011.

Uptime bringing new 30 m gangway to market Speaking at the Offshore Wind Journal Conference in London in early February, Uptime’s sales and marketing manager Svein Ove Haugen said the company was bringing a new offshore access system to market in the form of a 30 m autonomous motioncompensated gangway.

Mr Haugen said the next-generation gangway is designed for the offshore

wind and offshore oil and gas industries and will ensure safe access and increased workability. The new gangway has a number of advantages, not least that it weighs significantly less than older models and can be integrated with a ship’s dynamic positioning system. He told delegates at the conference that Uptime was “looking at 4 m Hs workability” for the new unit.

Damen to build first FCS 7011 on spec In October 2017, OSJ highlighted Damen’s new FCS 7011 offshore vessel, which is purpose-designed to compete with helicopters in the crew transfer market. The vessel has a super-slender hullform and motion compensated offshore access system and was developed based on feedback from a number of offshore oil and gas companies who want to reduce their logistics costs.

The new Damen design is a monohull, but a monohull with a difference in as much as it makes use of Damen’s superslender Sea Axe hull shape, a hullform that the company developed in the search for improved seakeeping characteristics for high-speed vessels.

Speaking to OSJ in late January 2018, David Stibbe, a business development manager at Damen responsible for offshore access solutions, said the company had received a lot of very positive feedback about the FCS 7011 and, as a result, has decided to start building the first example of the

type. Construction is due to get started in September, and the vessel will be ready in December 2019 or early 2020.

Complementing the advantages of the Sea Axe hullform whilst underway, a roll reduction system is incorporated into the design that makes use of a gyroscope to reduce motions when transfers are taking place. A ride control system is also integrated into the design for roll and pitch reduction. Steerable skegs ensure that course corrections whilst in transit are optimised.

Damen said that detailed cost analysis has shown that, among other potential applications, the FCS 7011 is ideal for transfers in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon and other countries offshore West Africa, along with emerging markets such as Guyana, where ExxonMobil needs to put together a logistics solution for its Liza developments. The FC 7011 also has potential applications supporting the floating accommodation vessel market, Mr Stibbe said. OSJ

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

24 | PROPULSION

More high-spec supply ships to have hybrid energy storage systems US-based owner Seacor has decided to fit battery-based hybrid energy storage systems on several of its vessels

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s highlighted on a number of occasions by OSJ, despite the difficult nature of the offshore support vessel market, a growing number of owners are fitting ships with environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient hybrid energy storage systems.

The latest company to do so is Seacor Marine Holdings, which has formed a joint company with COSCO Shipping Group that plans to acquire and operate eight platform supply vessels (PSVs).

The company, SEACOSCO Offshore LLC, will be a jointly owned Marshall Islands company and has entered into contracts for

the acquisition of eight Rolls-Royce-designed PSVs from COSCO Heavy Industry in China.

Six of the PSVs are of UT 771WP design, and two are of UT 771CD design.

SEACOSCO will take title to seven of the PSVs in 2018 and one in 2019. Thereafter, the shipyard, at its cost, will store the PSVs for six to 18 months. The storage period can be shortened by mutual agreement.

SEACOSCO has contracted with RollsRoyce Marine to outfit six of the PSVs with a battery energy storage system designed to reduce fuel consumption and enhance the safety and redundancy of the vessels.

This follows Seacor Marine’s recent order for battery energy storage systems on four large PSVs in Mexico.

The delivery includes energy storage container systems for the vessel, an upgrade of the existing Rolls-Royce ship design engineering package to match the new features, an upgrade of the dynamic positioning system and ACON control system on the vessels and a new RollsRoyce energy monitoring system, which will provide a complete overview of energy usage on board.

Seacor Marine’s chief executive John Gellert said “We are excited to partner

Six PSVs operated by SEACOSCO are to be fitted with battery energy storage systems

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

with COSCO Shipping Group. We are confident that we have structured a transaction that meets the needs of the shipyard while also managing the cash outlay from the equity owners.

“The vessels will modernise our fleet and expand our offerings to our customers.

Combining a proven and advanced design, best in category accommodation and the innovative Rolls-Royce battery system, these vessels will be highly marketable across all major offshore energy regions worldwide.”

SEACOSCO will be funded 30% with equity and 70% with debt financing secured by the PSVs on a non-recourse basis to the equity owners. Aggregate total consideration for the eight PSVs, including the battery system, is approximately US$161.1M. Seacor Marine’s total cash outlay is approximately US$22.4M, with approximately US$20.0M payable in Q1 2018 and the balance due over the next 14 months as vessels and the Rolls-Royce batteries are delivered. Seacor Marine will be responsible for commercial, operational and technical management of the vessels on a worldwide basis under a separate management agreement with SEACOSCO. In a related deal, Kongsberg has secured a contract to upgrade a further three PSVs owned by Mantenimiento Express Marítimo SAPI de CV (Mexmar), Seacor Marine’s joint venture in Mexico.

The contract follows a September 2017 deal for the same upgrade package on Seacor Maya.

Under the new contract, Kongsberg will deliver and install a hybrid power and dynamic positioning upgrade designed to significantly enhance energy efficiency on board the three PSVs Seacor Azteca, Seacor Warrior and Seacor Viking.

With Seacor Maya’s conversion having started in January 2018 and the follow-up vessel conversions expected to be completed by July 2018, Mexmar will soon be the only PSV owner in the Americas able to help its clients meet strict environmental regulations for decreasing CO2, NOx and SOx emissions. OSJ

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IMCA NEWS | 25

IMCA’s eCMID inspection scheme expands globally In recent months, IMCA has seen its eCMID offshore vessel inspection scheme expand in terms of the number of vessels registered on the database, usage, accredited vessel inspectors and global reach

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he eCMID – the electronic version of the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA’s) Common Marine Inspection Document – provides standard formats for the independent inspection and auditing of vessels, helping promote safety and efficiency and reducing the number of repeat inspections on individual vessels by providing a consistent, transferrable format that meetsvessel operator and clientrequirements alike.

As IMCA’s technical manager Mark Ford explained, at the beginning of 2017, IMCA announced that changes were afoot for the eCMID scheme from 1 January 2018. The changes meant an end to paper reports, with only formal inspection reports conducted using the dedicated eCMID database recognised as authorised inspection reports. Secondly, only validated accredited vessel inspectors (AVIs) can use the inspector functionality in the eCMID database to conduct Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID) (IMCA M 149) inspections and Marine Inspection for Small Workboats (IMCA M 189) inspections.

Not surprisingly, the final quarter of last year saw an unprecedented rush by vessel inspectors to ensure they were fully registered both as AVIs and for specific vessel types. Prior to this, it was normal to see perhaps 11 AVIs register each month, but in that final quarter, the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS), which runs the AVI-eCMID scheme, reported there were often up to 10 a week.

There are now over 330 accredited AVIs in 47 countries covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, the Asia-Pacific region and North and South America. Nonaccredited inspectors wanting to inspect a vessel now need an AVI to accompany

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them on the inspection. It’s the same if an inspector is not accredited for a particular vessel type.

The door is not shut to new AVIs, far from it. Registration details – and information of the IIMS eCMID accreditation courses taking place in Hamburg, Southampton and Sydney in coming months, with more planned – can be found on the IMCA website.

More than 2,250 vessels from more than 1,000 owners/operators are listed, free of charge, on the eCMID database, which is regularly consulted by over 4,600 users from all over the world each year. The database is constantly expanding. Indeed, one major operator is currently halfway through registering 120 of its vessels.

The whole eCMID system is now based on the principles described in the ISO 19011 Guidance for auditing management systems standard and aligned with other comparable industry guidance on safety management system assurance.

It is industry driven – developed by the industry for the industry.

The primary focus of the eCMID is on the actual effectiveness of companies’ international safety management (ISM) systems and can assist them prior to undergoing a flag state ISM audit to identify potential issues, which is a useful tool for any company.

“I cannot stress enough the value of an independent AVI inspection,” Mr Ford said.

“When I came ashore after a 25-year career as a marine engineer on merchant vessels, one of my roles as a senior surveyor and divisional director in the safety and loss prevention department at a large London-based P&I club saw me carrying out ship condition surveys prior to and during entry into P&I cover, so I am well aware of the value of third-party ‘cold

eyes’ inspections. Even companies with a good ISM system and an inhouse auditing team benefit from them.”

The strong international IMCA Marine eCMID Committee, headed by Stephen Birt of TechnipFMC, brings together representatives of vessel operators, inspection companies and clients to coordinate developments in eCMID. Under their guidance, IMCA’s eCMID will, over time, prove its relevance to more than offshore vessels, eventually encompassing all vessel types.

Constant investment in the database and software behind it is obviously vital, and in due course, IMCA sees the system being self-funding, with fees for uploading inspection reports being reinvested back into the scheme to ensure its continuing development embraces all that the marine industry requires. OSJ The eCMID database is at www.imcaecmid.com, and further information on the AVI scheme is at www.ecmidvesselinspectors.com.

MARK FORD: “Even companies with a good ISM system and an in-house auditing team benefit from AVIs”

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

26 | HELICOPTERS

Offshore helicopter industry to pick up, with help from offshore wind The offshore wind energy industry could provide additional opportunities for companies in the helicopter sector

Despite a number of challenging years, there are significant opportunities for the offshore helicopter supply chain, thanks in part to the growth of the renewables market

A

new five-year forecast released by Westwood Global Energy Group in late 2017 predicts a recovery in the offshore helicopter market after three years of decline.

The forecast foresees global offshore oil and gas helicopter expenditure to total US$16Bn between 2018 and 2022, growing at a 1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the period. This modest rate of recovery has been anticipated by the supply chain, and helicopter operators have restructured and reorganised.

Westwood also predicts notable changes in geographic focus, a preference for more efficient rotorcraft and new applications for helicopters in offshore renewable energy.

Global helicopter fleet utilisation hit a low of 54% in 2017 due to falling demand and increased supply from orders placed predownturn. Oil companies required fewer journeys offshore, and as a result, many airframes were put into storage.

In the large helicopter segment, the grounding of the H225 in 2016 resulted in a switch to other rotorcraft. While restrictions are now lifted, future utilisation in this segment will influence market

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

recovery and is dependent on operator preferences for the >100 units that are presently not in use.

Looking forward, Westwood predicts global utilisation to pick up to an average of 59% for the medium and large helicopter fleet. It expects growth to come from new frontiers such as the Mediterranean, East Africa and Guyana rather than traditional deepwater areas of activity (Nigeria, Angola, US Gulf of Mexico and Brazil). This geographic expansion will require new bases being set up and the reallocation of unutilised units.

The offshore wind market also offers a significant opportunity for helicopter operators, with almost 6,000 turbines to be installed globally over 2018–2022 bringing the global total to 10,000 by forecast end. Westwood expects US$119M of offshore wind-related helicopter expenditure over the forecast, with a CAGR of 39%.

Westwood Global Energy’s head of offshore research Steve Robertson said “It is clear from the figures that future demand growth for helicopter transfers will come increasingly from outside western Europe from areas such as the Middle East and Latin America, as well as from renewables.

“We don’t expect any great rebound in headcount in oil and gas production, and in drilling, we predict 9,896 offshore wells to be drilled over the period, 12% less than between 2013 and 2017. All of this will decrease passenger transfer demand. “The Middle East is a key hotspot for helicopter operations in the coming five years with a 20% increase in overall activity between 2018 and 2022. In Latin America, activity has nearly halved during the downturn but will rebound quickly, primarily driven by activity in Brazil.

“Growth opportunities also exist elsewhere, particularly in offshore wind business. As the next generation of projects becomes commercially competitive and developers build further from shore, clusters of projects will likely share infrastructure and logistics. Helicopter operators that get in early will benefit from this future growth.” OSJ

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28 | SEISMIC

SEISMIC REVIEW PROCESS IS ‘FLAWED, ARBITRARY AND DYSFUNCTIONAL’ The GAO report says the approval process for surveys takes too long and is too haphazard

A report by the Government Accountability Office in the US agrees with sentiment long felt by the offshore oil and gas industry that permits for seismic surveys are unnecessarily delayed

T

he offshore oil and gas industry in the US has long felt that obtaining permission for seismic surveys took too long. Now, it seems, a government agency agrees with it. In response to the report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi issued a statement following the release of the GAO report.

“The GAO report released by House Natural Resources Committee chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) reveals what the offshore energy industry has been saying all along – the permitting process for seismic research is flawed, arbitrary and dysfunctional. Bureaucratic and intentional foot-dragging has prevented a timely and objective appraisal of modern offshore seismic permits, putting the exploration and development of affordable and reliable energy that Americans rely on at risk,” said Mr Luthi.

Companies seeking to conduct surveys to find oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) must obtain a permit from BOEM – which oversees offshore oil and gas activities. Man-made sources of ocean noise, such as seismic surveys, may harm marine mammals.

Entities whose activities may cause the taking of marine mammals, which includes harassing or injuring an animal, may obtain ‘incidental take’ authorisations for seismic surveys from the National Marine Fisheries

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

Service (NMFS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

GAO was asked to provide information on the seismic permitting process. The report examined BOEM’s review process, the number of permit applications reviewed from 2011 through 2016 and its review timeframes and NMFS’s and FWS’s review process, the number of incidental take authorisation applications reviewed from 2011 through 2016 and their review timeframes, among other objectives. It is recommending that both NMFS and FWS develop guidance clarifying how and when staff should record review dates of incidental take authorisation applications and analyse how long the reviews take. GAO said NMFS agreed and FWS partially agreed with its recommendations.

BOEM’s process and timeframes for reviewing seismic survey applications differ by region along the OCS. From 2011 to 2016, BOEM reviewed 297 applications and issued 264 seismic survey permits, and the reviews’ timeframes differed by region.

BOEM does not have statutory review timeframe requirements for issuing permits, and officials said the agency starts its formal review once it determines that an application is complete. In some cases, the agency issued a permit on the same day it determined an application was complete.

NMFS and FWS follow a similar general process for reviewing incidental take authorisation applications related to seismic survey activities. From 2011

to 2016, NMFS and FWS reviewed 35 and approved 28 such applications across the three OCS regions, including some authorisations related to BOEM permits as well as research seismic surveys not associated with BOEM permits. NMFS was unable to provide accurate data for the dates the agency determines an application is adequate and complete, and FWS does not record this date.

“Federal internal control standards call for agencies to use quality information,” said GAO. “Without guidance on how to accurately record review dates, agencies and applicants will continue to have uncertainty around review timeframes.

"Further, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the agencies are to review one type of incidental take authorisation application – incidental harassment authorisation applications – within 120 days of receiving an application for such authorisations.

“NMFS and FWS have not conducted an analysis of their review timeframes. Not conducting such an analysis is inconsistent with federal internal control standards that call for agency management to design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks. Without analysing the review timeframes for incidental harassment authorisation applications and comparing them to statutory review timeframes, NMFS and FWS are unable to determine whether they are meeting their objectives to complete reviews in the 120-day statutory timeframe.” OSJ

www.osjonline.com

SEISMIC | 29

Marine seismic market approaching upward inflection point Clarksons Platou Securities said it “remains steadfast” in its view that, in 2018, seismic demand will grow, drive higher multiclient sales and eventually tighten the supply/demand balance and push contract rates higher

I

n the most recent issue of its Oil Services Quarterly publication, Clarksons Platou Securities said “Since our recent sector view, the main incremental has been the oil price that is up 22% and which seems set to trigger a flurry of projects slated for 2018. We expect activity across the oil services chain to improve, which will positively impact an already quite tight seismic balance.”

Clarksons Platou Securities said that, in this evolving market, it sees marine seismic companies PGS and Spectrum as its top picks.

“We believe seismic is up for an exciting year,” said the company. “We have received a flurry of positive news in the oil services sector recently.

We believe Q4 results will show overall robust multiclient sales, and seismic companies will report stronger tender levels and higher activity levels overall.”

Clarksons Platou Securities said the multiclient market has started to respond to the impetus of higher prices. “We are preparing for a rather high multiclient licensing round activity in 2018. We maintain our view that 2018 demand should grow 6% year on year. We make no changes to our 2018 demand outlook at this point and continue to expect volume to grow. We expect Brazil, Mexico, Canada and the North Sea to absorb the bulk of vessels, and we are sensing secured contracts which already offer higher pricing. It is early days still though.

“Moving to supply, we reiterate our view that the market balance is quite fragile as we model two to three vessels too many in the market on an annual basis. We believe the summer months are close to being 100% utilised while the winter months could see reduced demand.

However, the global seismic market is a geographically marginal

PGS has reduced capital expenditure and Clarksons Platou Securities expects it to develop strongly

market, and we expect a tighter North Sea market this year. In addition, there are no newbuilds in sight yet.

PGS said it experienced a strong finish to multiclient sales from all regions in Q4 2017, making full-year multiclient performance an improvement from 2016.“Our capitalised multiclient investments ended at US$213.4M. We achieved a sales-to-investment ratio of close to 2.5 times, continuing on the positive trend from 2016 when the ratio for the year was 2.3 times,” the company said.

“The marine contract market was challenging in 2017 with significant seasonal swings. To address the continued difficult market fundamentals, we implemented a centralised, simplified and streamlined organisation in Q4, combined with improved flexibility for vessel and imaging capacity. The reorganisation has been executed according to plan, and we commenced operating in the new organisation from 1 January 2018. We are confident that we will reduce the full-year gross cash cost by more than US$100M in 2018, compared to 2017, which together with lower capital expenditure should position us well to achieve our target of delivering positive cash flow after debt service this year.”

The company expects the higher oil price, improved cash flow among clients and unsustainable reserve replacement ratios to benefit the marine 3D seismic market fundamentals going forward. Although the company expects market sentiment to improve in 2018, it says there is a risk that a market recovery will take some time.

Clarksons Platou Securities said it was “positive” about Spectrum and PGS. It said Spectrum was its best-performing seismic outfit in 2017. “We maintain our positive view and continue to believe Spectrum will be a strong performer in 2018 on stronger sales and higher valuation,” it said. “PGS should also develop more strongly. We continue to argue that they will not breach covenant this year and will avoid any equity issues. We recently downgraded Polarcus to neutral, but the company is poised to be a strong earner if our rate assumptions materialise and the equity upside could be significant. TGSNopec delivered decent sales in Q4 2017, but we expect quite soft guidance as we expect the market to improve, and we expect investors to add on more risk and unwind their TGS positions.” OSJ

30 | NEW DESIGNS

Aerodynamic support makes crew transfer vessel fast and fuel efficient France-based Advanced Aerodynamic Vessels (A2V) believes a revolutionary hullform it has developed has potential applications in the offshore oil and gas industry

L

ate February 2018 was due to see the first example of a new type of vessel enter service servicing oil production facilities in Gabon in West Africa. The vessel, Clémentine, was built for Peschaud International in France and will be used to transport 25 oil field technicians to inland oil production facilities.

This particular unit, an A2V-25-CB, will transport personnel on rivers along the Gabonese coast, but another larger unit also designed by the French company is suitable for use offshore.

Clémentine completed sea trials early in 2018 and is approved for operation on the rivers in Gabon by Bureau Veritas. It has a service speed of 40 knots with two 448 kW hp diesel engines.

A2V naval architect/R&D engineer Gianluca Guelfi told OSJ that the vessel has very much lower fuel consumption than a conventional design thanks to a unique feature, in which the vessel is partially lifted out of the water somewhat in the manner of a surface effect ship (SES).

The key difference between the A2V vessel and an SES is that the latter uses blowers to produce lift, whereas the A2V concept uses aerodynamic lift to raise the vessel in the manner of an aerofoil. Therein lies its reduced hydrodynamic drag and ability to reach high speeds with lower levels of fuel consumption and emissions than a conventional craft, transferring personnel over long distances in a shorter time period than would otherwise be possible. Other benefits of the concept – which uses business class seating – include reduced noise levels.

The A2V aerodynamic lift concept was tested using a number of prototypes in 2015/16. The company continues to work with classification society DNV GL to obtain approval in principle for other, similar applications that would make use of the design’s ability to, as Mr Guelfi put it, safely transfer the weight of the vessel “from water to air”.

“Reducing the weight of the vessel is the key to greater efficiency,” said Mr Guelfi. “With A2V, you get twice the speed for half the fuel. Thanks to aerodynamic support, above a critical speed, the faster A2V vessels go the less fuel they use.”

This critical speed depends on the application and size of the vessel, but the fuel economy with respect to conventional boats is,

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

said Mr Guelfi, “very significant” above 25 knots. This is, he noted, in contrast to conventional high-speed vessels in which oversized engines allow incremental speed improvements at the cost of much higher fuel consumption and reduced payload, leading to what he described as “economically and environmentally unsustainable costs per passenger”.

The unit for Peschaud International has a length overall of 15.3 m and loaded displacement of 19 tonnes. It has a breadth of 12.1 m, air draught of 7.85 m and draught of 0.64 m. The waterjet-propelled unit can transport 25 people with a payload (including passengers) of 3.5 tonnes at a cruising speed of 40 knots.

The company believes that the concept also has potential applications offshore and has developed a version of the design, the A2V-60-CB, for long-range crew changes between shore and offshore platforms.

A2V has developed tools to evaluate the seakeeping behaviour of the larger unit and has been working with DNV GL in a joint development programme. The vessel would be capable of 60 knots offshore Angola and could also operate in safe mode at 18 knots in case of severe weather conditions.

That version has a length overall of 24 m, full load displacement of 55 tonnes, beam of 16.4 m, air draught of 8 m and draught of 1.1 m and could transport 60 passengers. It is designed to comply with DNV HSLC/NSC Crewboat R2 and would have two 1,440 kW main engines and surface piercing propellers. OSJ

A2V’s unique design makes use of aerodynamic lift rather than fans or blowers to lift it out of the water

www.osjonline.com

NEW DESIGNS | 31

High performance crew transfer vessel

is based on proven military design In the last 18 months, a number of new designs have been launched in the market for high-speed crew transfer – the latest is based on an evolved version of a hullform used on the Royal Norwegian Navy’s fast missile craft

U

moe Mandal in Norway has developed a further version of its Wavecraft Voyager family, the Voyager 38 X, a high-performance crew transfer vessel for the offshore oil and gas sector.

Based on technology originally developed and used by Umoe Mandal for military applications, the Wavecraft Voyager 38 X was designed to reduce transit time, enhance passenger comfort, safety and efficiency and reduce costs compared with existing designs.

The Royal Norwegian Navy’s Skjold-class missile craft make use of the same air-cushion catamaran/surface-effect ship technology.

The same hullform was also used on the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Oksøy-class minehunters and minesweepers. As with the commercial versions of the design, the reduced wetted surface of the hullform significantly reduces wave resistance compared to a conventional hull configuration.

The Voyager 38X makes use of enhanced air-cushion catamaran/surface-effect ship technology combined with a sophisticated motion control system that compensates for vertical wave motion, offering comfortable transit and safe access to other vessels and installations offshore. The vessel can be fitted with a gangway and a SeaSpyder personnel transfer system.

The vessel is designed to transport 150 passengers and a crew of six at speeds of up to 55 knots, with excellent seakeeping, even in high sea states, good fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

The Voyager 38 X can be delivered in accordance with the requirements of all major classification societies and complies with US Coast Guard and ABS A1 HSC Crew boat, Circle E + AMS + DPS2 classification. Applying the latest in high-speed diesel engine and SCR technology, the Voyager 38 X meets stringent environmental standards and complies with EPA Tier 4 requirements.

In December 2017, the company announced that, as part of the

MAROFF-2 programme for research, innovation and sustainability in the marine and offshore industries, Umoe Mandal had been granted funding for further development of the Wavecraft design concept for the offshore oil and gas sector.

Umoe Mandal said it would focus on optimising the concept, focusing on the most important hull parameters in order to reduce the weight of the hull and hence reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Other focus areas will include enhanced propulsion solutions and fire safety. The company said it planned to use a number of different techniques, including simulation, model testing, computational fluid dynamics and finite element modelling.

The overall objective of the project is to further develop the surface-effect ship and air-cushion catamaran technology used in the Wavecraft in order to develop a more competitive vessel with regard to construction and operating costs.

Umoe Mandal partnered with the Research Council of Norway on an earlier MAROFF project developing the Wavecraft concept for use as a high-speed crew transfer vessel for the renewable energy industry. The MAROFF programme aims to support and provide funding for Norwegian companies and research institutions.

Earlier in 2017, Umoe Mandal developed other versions of the Wavecraft, including the Voyager 32 and Voyager 38W2W (in which W2W stands for walk-to-work) for the offshore oil and gas sector.

The company has also incorporated class 2 dynamic positioning into its designs. This optional feature is intended to meet customer and regulatory requirements whilst improving the safety of crew transfer to/from rigs and other offshore installations. As the company also noted, DP2 will also provide Wavecraft vessels with greater operational freedom in congested environments, such as in offshore windfarms or where other vessels and installations may be present. OSJ

The Voyager 38 X is designed for high speed transits with excellent seakeeping, comfort and fuel economy

www.osjonline.com

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

32 | OPERATOR PROFILE

Entrepreneurial Dutchman brings new range of services to the offshore industry

M

r Overdulve began his career in the merchant navy and worked in dredging and offshore drilling. Since then, he has continued working in a number of disciplines. Having held a number of commercial and engineering roles and accumulated more than 30 years of experience in the offshore industry, he is currently chief executive and owner of OOS International, a company he founded in 2009 in Serooskerke, the Netherlands.

For three years, Mr Overdulve led the company as a one-man business, but after reading an interview about Petrobras in the newspapers that described discoveries made in the pre-salt fields offshore Brazil and learning about the complexity of extracting oil there, he began to develop solutions to the logistical challenges involved and the cost involved in transporting people offshore.

The hub concept he came up with is still under review but has been postponed due to the new circumstances in the offshore oil and gas sector. He turned his attention to flotels and the self-propelled dynamic positioning semi-submersible OOS Gretha (2012) and anchored unit OOS Prometheus (2013), which are each capable of providing accommodation for more than 1,100 people throughout the lifetime of a project while also providing services with heavy-lift cranes.

Nowadays, OOS International has a unique position in the offshore oil and gas industry, offering turnkey accommodation, heavy-lift installation and decommissioning solutions. The company has grown from sole proprietorship into an internationally respected offshore construction company.

Last year, Mr Overdulve started a new company with co-founder Cor Selen – OOS Energy – a company that claims to be the first in the industry offering a combination of decommissioning and plugging and abandonment services.

In order to help take OOS International

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

In less than a decade, Léon Overdulve, chief executive and founder of OOS International, has built the company into a leading provider of accommodation and heavy-lift services and certainly isn’t finished yet, as he explained to OSJ

LÉON OVERDULVE founded OOS International in 2009, since when it has grown rapidly

from a small company to the place it now has, Mr Overdulve formed joint ventures with CIMC Raffles in Yantai for OOS Gretha and OOS Prometheus.

He explained that OOS Gretha has successfully executed a range of heavy-lift operations for Petrobras and will continue to do so. The company also started a technical collaboration with multiple suppliers, delivering equipment such as cranes and thrusters.

In August 2016, OOS International signed a contract with China Merchants Industry Holdings for two newbuild semi-submersibles that are similar to OOS Gretha but more capable. OOS Serooskerke and OOS Walcheren should be ready to enter the market in 2019. OOS has a majority stake in the companies that own the new assets. “Contributing to longterm projects and sustainable relationships with stakeholders in the industry is the key to our company’s success,” said Mr Overdulve, noting that its partners in China are providing what he described as “healthy long-term financing packages”.

At a time when almost no newbuild vessels are being ordered, OOS International has several units under construction and is planning others. These include the semi-submersible heavy lifters and semi-submersible crane vessels, not to mention jack-ups and another unit that will be the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel if built. What is the rationale behind these vessels and investing in them at this particular point in time?

Mr Overdulve explained that decommissioning of ageing offshore oil and gas platforms, subsea wells and related infrastructure is only likely to increase because thousands of platforms need to be removed in the coming years.

“OOS started to rethink its strategy and concentrate on compact, fully equipped assets with modern technology offering an

www.osjonline.com

OPERATOR PROFILE | 33

easier, faster and cost-reducing solution by integrating accommodation, decommissioning and well plugging and abandonment services,” Mr Overdulve told OSJ. “Doing so will enable it to meet customers’ demands for the removal and installation of large numbers of platforms,” he said, noting that oil majors are increasingly introducing age restrictions of a maximum of 15–20 years for many kinds of tonnage. At lot of topside installation work is still carried out using units that are 35 years old.

“One thing is clear,” he told OSJ. “From 2025 onwards, there will be almost no semi-submersible units capable of 5,000 tonne lifts because of their age profile.

“OOS can provide the end client with another option,” he said. “Our unique fleet will be able to compete with the big players in the offshore oil and gas and renewable energy markets worldwide. And, most importantly, we can obtain substantial savings for our clients.”

Asked who designs the units that OOS International builds and operates, Mr Overdulve explained that the company executed the conceptual design of the semi-submersible crane vessels in co-operation with Leenaars BV. China Merchants finalised the basic design at its new R&D centre. “We believe that undertaking the basic design yourselves while the yard is building is not a good idea,” he told OSJ. The conceptual design of the new jack-ups for OOS International, or multi-activity units (MAUs) as it describes them, was carried out by CDC Scotland in co-operation with OOS, and the basic design was finalised by China Merchants.

As highlighted previously by OSJ, OOS International also recently signed agreements with Jiangsu Fanzhou Shipping

Co Ltd in China and GSP Offshore to address opportunities in Russia. It also has a new office in Brazil. Mr Overdulve said the company is “highly committed” to the offshore energy market in Brazil, and its new office in Macae reflects its desire to be able to offer higher standards of service to its clients and personnel.

“Our strategic alliances with Jiangsu Fanzhou Shipping and GSP Offshore expand

the coverage of our vessels, our presence in the Russian market and in Asia,” Mr Overdulve explained. “We always strive to ensure a winwin proposition for OOS International and our partners when we join forces, leveraging our scale and resources. The new office in Brazil is part of our long-term commitment to the Brazilian market and will provide additional warehousing and office space for new entities that we plan to unveil later.”

The latest newbuild planned by OOS International is OOS Zeelandia, which will be the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel

Semi-submersible crane vessel will be world’s largest OOS International’s latest project is what it believes will be the world’s largest semi-submersible construction vessel. It signed a memorandum of understanding for the new unit with China Merchants Industry Holdings last year.

Basic design of OOS Zeelandia, which will be 225 m long with a breadth of 117 m, has been underway for some time. It will be suitable for platform removal and installation in deep water and will be equipped with two 12,000-tonne capacity cranes.

The dynamic positioned unit will also have a work bridge capable of rotating through 360° on which dynamic positioning operators and crane drivers will be located next to one another.

The new vessel will have what OOS International describes as

www.osjonline.com

“an enormous open deck” for heavy modules. The cranes will be an unprecedented 112 m apart from one another.

OOS Zeelandia will be an ICE-class 1B unit with engines capable of burning liquefied natural gas.

When underway, it will be capable of a transit speed of in excess of 15.4 knots and has been designed to have low fuel consumption thanks to its asymmetric hull design.

Mr Overdulve said “These immense volumes, which go beyond the capacity of our current fleet, will be of great value to the decommissioning and subsea installation market. The new vessel is being designed to meet the highest safety and environmental standards.” OSJ

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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STANDBY VESSELS | 35

Fisheries deal sees ERRV specialist branch out into new market

S

entinel Marine, a long-standing owner/operator of emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRVs) has been awarded a contract by European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) for charter of a patrol vessel. The framework contract provides for maximum value to the company over a fouryear period of €20M (US$25M).

Under the terms of the deal, Sentinel Marine will provide a vessel, Lundy Sentinel, to the EFCA for it to deploy in international and EU waters. Lundy Sentinel is one of the firm’s growing fleet of newbuild multirole ERRVs. The contract to charter Lundy Sentinel is for an initial period of two years, with an option to extend for a further two years. The majority of Sentinel Marine’s fleet is used to provide support for the offshore industry, and this is the first time one of its vessels has been utilised for the fisheries sector.

EU fisheries inspectors will use Lundy Sentinel as a platform for the monitoring, boarding and inspection of fishing boats as well as associated transport and support vessels. It will be deployed primarily in EU and international waters but also in third-country waters as required, from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the North Sea and Baltic Sea, as part of joint deployment plans and other operations. It is possible that Lundy Sentinel will also be used for other operations apart from fisheries control in the framework of the European coastguard co-operation, including search and rescue, border control, disruption of trafficking routes, detection of criminal activities and enforcement of EU and national legislation.

As highlighted previously by OSJ, Sentinel Marine has made a significant investment in developing a new breed of modern ERRVs. Six are currently operational in the field, with a further three under construction and scheduled to enter service at various points throughout 2018. All have been fitted out with the latest technology, modern accommodation and crew facilities and are constructed with low noise and vibration to aid the comfort of the crew.

The vessels are attractive because they have a multirole function. In addition to their main focus of protecting and saving lives, they can perform a wide range of other duties from

www.osjonline.com

The advantages of multipurpose safety standby vessels has again been demonstrated, but by a contract outside the market for emergency response and rescue vessels cargo storage to dynamic positioning.

Sentinel Marine chief executive officer Rory Deans said the vessels combine a modern, comfortable and safe working environment with efficiency benefits that a multirole design can bring. Not only are all the vessels in the Sentinel Marine fleet extremely fuel efficient, but the fact that they can perform tasks other than a traditional rescue and recovery role means that they can deliver additional cost savings to the client. “This contract with the EFCA demonstrates that there is demand for the type of flexibility and efficiency that our fleet of ERRVs can bring outside our traditional oil and gas market,” he said.

The British-flagged Lundy Sentinel was built in 2015, is 61 m in length and can launch up to three boarding boats.

Craig Group sells North Star There was an important change in the market for ERRVs late in 2017 when UK-

based Craig Group sold its shipping arm, North Star Shipping, to Basalt Infrastructure Partners II LP. North Star is a well known provider of emergency response and rescue services to the offshore industry in the North Sea. The company currently owns and manages 31 vessels supported by a fleet of approximately 50 fast rescue craft and 35 daughter craft. It is one of the youngest British fleets in the market.

North Star managing director Callum Bruce said “This investment, coupled with our market-leading position and sector knowledge, provides a strong platform for future, sustainable growth and diversification of the company. The senior management team, staff and crew at North Star will remain with the business, and this transaction will not impact on our day-to-day operations. We remain committed to delivering the highest standards of safety and service to our clients and provide industry-leading vessels and support.” OSJ

Sentinel Marine has been awarded a contract to charter its Lundy Sentinel ERRV to the European Fisheries Control Agency

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

36 | SAFETY ALERTS

Fast rescue craft damaged; lifeboat damaged during drill The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) regularly publishes safety flashes summarising safety matters and incidents, allowing wider dissemination of lessons learned from them, recent examples of which are reproduced here

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vessel was engaged in a joint offshore oil spill response exercise involving third parties. During the exercise, the client instructed the master to use the fast rescue craft (FRC) of the vessel as a towing boat for repositioning the oil booms deployed.

What went wrong?

What were the causes?

The mooring bollard on the FRC broke under tension when the FRC started to tow the oil boom.

The FRC was not fit for this purpose, and this was not considered while planning or risk assessing the task in preparation for the exercise. A suitable workboat should have been used for positioning of the oil boom.

Incidents involving small boats, whether workboats, FRCs, lifeboats or crew transfer vessels, should always be treated as having high potential for serious injury or fatality.

Lifeboat damaged during deployment drill A lifeboat was damaged because of equipment failure during a routine deployment drill.

During a routine boat drill in port, the starboard lifeboat was lowered to water level. The hooks were released by pulling the release wire in the boat. When the crew were hooking the boat back on, the lock lever of the forward hook would not turn.

After much difficulty, the lock lever was turned enough to prevent the boat from unhooking.

During this delay in hooking, owing to the wave motion, the boat came in contact with the side of the vessel, causing minor damage where the railing supports were drilled through the lifeboat’s fibreglass hull.

Plastic and metal-sheathed wire broke.

The worn-down condition could not be seen during routine inspections.

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

What went wrong?

What were the causes?

The release wire was broken inside the sheathing, and this was not visible to the crew.

The on-load release mechanism hook could not be locked in the shut position, and the locking piece for the forward hook froze, delayed the hoisting.

A causal factor was that the release wire was not inspected or checked by the maker during the five-yearly tests of the lifeboat in the drydock, which had been completed two months prior to this incident.

Root causes identified included the fact that there were no clear instructions in the maker’s manual regarding renewal intervals of sheathed wires and inadequate compliance/ risk was seen as tolerable – the service technician certified the condition of the boat and its equipment as good based on the test conducted at a recent drydocking.

What actions were taken?

What lessons were learned?

A deeper awareness is needed of the risks involved with corrosion that is difficult to access.

Instructions on renewing the release wires as per the maker’s recommendation should be placed on board.

Portable fenders should be used, if available, when work is being carried out on boats while at water level and the sea state demands it.

Fixed CO2 fire extinguishing systems The US Coast Guard has published a Safety Alert relating to fixed CO2 fire extinguishing systems. This followed discovery of critical deficiencies in firefighting equipment on a ship.

The conditions associated with the onboard CO2 system may have prevented the system from operating correctly or, if not discovered, the system may not have operated at all in an

emergency situation.

During the inspection, it was noted that some of the hoses which connected CO2 cylinders to the manifolds were wrapped around the bottle valve handles. The bottles could have been in place for a long period of time, in their original positions without regard to the stresses placed on the connecting hoses.

Inspectors also found significant cracking of the CO2 discharge hoses which were under tension. This condition is known as ozone cracking and occurs when very small amounts of ozone in the atmosphere interact with polymers in rubber products and elastomers when those products are under tension.

The IMO has published MSC.1/ Cir.1318, ‘Guidelines for the Maintenance and Inspections of Fixed Carbon Dioxide Fire extinguishing Systems.’ This provides the minimum recommended level of maintenance and inspections for fixed CO2 systems on ships, as per SOLAS regulation II2/14.2.1.2.

In addition to other important information, it provides useful maintenance and inspection guidance. OSJ IMCA’s safety flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing wider dissemination of lessons learned from them. The information below is provided in good faith by members and should be reviewed individually by recipients, who will determine its relevance to their own operations.

The effectiveness of the IMCA safety flash system depends on receiving reports from members in order to pass on information and avoid repeat incidents.

Please consider adding the IMCA secretariat (incidentreports@imca-int.com) to your internal distribution list for safety alerts and/or manually submitting information on specific incidents you consider may be relevant.All information will be anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate.

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BEST OF THE WEB | 39

BEST OF THE WEB

osjonline.com

New owner for Sea Truck’s DP3 units

TechnipFMC takes control of Island Offshore well intervention unit

Sea Trucks Group’s accommodation and construction vessels Jascon 25, Jascon 28, Jascon 31 and Jascon 34, all DP class 3 vessels, have been transferred to a new owner by bondholder appointed receivers.

Sea Trucks Group, which is in liquidation, said the company had also transferred shares in associated operating companies in a restructuring which was approved by the group’s bondholders.

From the perspective of the Sea Trucks group, the impact of the restructuring is significant. The DP3 vessels have been sold and are now owned by a new company with a vastly improved balance sheet, which will offer the vessels to offshore oil and gas companies worldwide.

Following the restructuring, the liquidators will focus their efforts on pursuing repossession of the remaining Sea Trucks-owned vessels in Nigeria.

The sale of the DP3 vessels has reduced the debt owed by Sea Trucks group under its secured bonds by US$215M.

TechnipFMC has signed an agreement with the Island Offshore group to acquire a 51% stake in the latter’s wholly owned subsidiary, Island Offshore Subsea AS. Island Offshore Subsea provides riserless light well intervention (RLWI) project management and engineering services for plug and abandonment (P&A), riserless coiled tubing and well completion operations.

In connection with the acquisition of the controlling interest, TechnipFMC and Island Offshore will enter into a strategic cooperation agreement to deliver RLWI services on a worldwide basis, which will also include TechnipFMC’s RLWI capabilities.

Island Offshore Subsea AS will be rebranded and become the operating unit for TechnipFMC’s RLWI activities worldwide. http://bit.ly/2BPOYUO

http://bit.ly/2C2uihg

The only way is up, says North Sea shipbroker

Mixed reaction to Schlumberger’s plan to exit seismic market

Broker Seabrokers said the general market sentiment among North Sea owners is more positive now than it has been for months, if not years.

“2018 is the year where many owners expect a market recovery to take hold,” said the company in the January 2018 issue of its monthly report, Seabreeze, although it noted that last month had not been a good one for owners in the region.

“Charterers should not expect the market to remain this soft for long,” said the broker. “It has been well documented that there is a long list of stacked rigs poised to return to service over the next few months, and activity levels should ramp up significantly. While January has proved to be a tough start to the year for owners, there is only one direction rates are going to go from here.”

Despite what Schlumberger chairman and chief executive Paal Kibsgaard described as ‘positive sentiment’ in the offshore industry, the oilfield services giant has announced plans to exit the marine and land seismic segments.

Announcing details of the company’s Q4 2017 results, Mr Kibsgaard said that based on in-depth analysis, the only product line that does not meet our return expectations going forward, even factoring in an eventual market recovery, is our seismic acquisition business.

“We have therefore taken the difficult decision to exit the marine and land seismic acquisition market, and instead turn our WesternGeco product line into an asset-light business, built on our leading position within multiclient, data processing and geophysical interpretation services.”

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To view more whitepapers visit the Knowledge Bank at www.osjonline.com To upload a whitepaper to the Knowledge Bank, please email Steve Edwards at steve.edwards@rivieramm.com

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Editor’s selection:

Editor’s comment:

The challenge for offshore access

For many years, helicopters have been the main mode of transportation for long distance transfers. Fast and able to operate in a range of weather conditions, they have ferried personnel quickly.

However, they are not cheap to run.

In response, Damen has developed a new type of fast vessel with a motioncompensated offshore access system.

Shuttling personnel and equipment between the shore and offshore platforms and other installations has been under the spotlight for some time.

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

40 | MARKET DATA

Statistics & trends Compiled using data and graphs provided by Seabrokers’ monthly market report Seabreeze

NORTH SEA DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS

NORTH SEA AVERAGE RATES: JANUARY 2018

DEPARTURES: Vessels that have recently left or are due to leave the North Sea spot market West Africa

Skandi Feistein

Mediterranean West Africa

ARRIVALS: Vessels that have recently arrived or are due to arrive on the North Sea spot market BB Troll

Ex Black Sea

Far Sitella

Ex West Africa

Highland Valour

% CHANGE

supply duties PSVs <900 m2

£4,996

£5,958

-16.15%

supply duties PSVs >900 m2

£5,959

£5,764

+3.38%

supply duties AHTS <22,000 bhp

£5,481

£13,890

-60.54%

supply duties AHTS >22,000 bhp

£8,736

£16,229

-46.17%

Ex Central America

Onyx

Ex Mediterranean

Pacific Leader

Ex West Africa

Skandi Hera

Ex Mediterranean

NORTH SEA SPOT AVERAGE UTILISATION: JANUARY 2018 MONTH

AVERAGE RATE JANUARY 2018

CATEGORY

Bourbon Topaz Troms Hera

AVERAGE RATE JANUARY 2018

MED LARGE PSV PSV

NORTH SEA AVERAGE RATES: JANUARY 2018

MED AHTS

LARGE AHTS

Jan 2018

52%

76%

37%

44%

Dec 2017

60%

79%

49%

55%

Nov 2017

70%

79%

50%

50%

Oct 2017

67%

70%

41%

42%

Sep 2017

75%

92%

50%

73%

Aug 2017

78%

90%

57%

68%

CATEGORY

MINIMUM

MAXIMUM

supply duties PSVs <900 m2

£3,500

£11,500

supply duties PSVs >900 m2

£3,000

£16,927

£4,000

£7,357

£4,117

£22,875

supply duties AHTS <22,000 bhp supply duties AHTS >22,000 bhp

OSVs RECENTLY DELIVERED VESSEL CBO Iguacu Pacific Griffon POSH Arcturus

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

DESIGN

OWNER/MANAGER

COMMITMENT

Havyard 843 AHTS

Grupo CBO

South America

IMT 984 PSV

Swire Pacific Offshore

TBC

6,600 BHP AHT

PACC Offshore Services Holdings

TBC

www.osjonline.com

MARKET DATA | 41

LEFT: anchor handler and PSV availability fluctuated significantly in the month

DAILY AVAILABILITY: JANUARY 2018 PSV 2018

26

PSV 2017

AHTS 2018

AHTS 2017

24

BELOW LEFT: the oil price continued to rise in January 2018, but has fallen since

22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

1 2 3 4

5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

OIL PRICE VERSUS RIG UTILISATION 100%

$70

90%

$65

average Brent Crude US$/Bbl

80% 70%

74.4%

75.6% 74.3% 74.2%

$54.89

$55.49 $51.97

$52.98

73.2%

73.5%

73.4%

72.9%

$51.37

$50.87

73.4% $55.16

74.9% 75.8% $57.62

$62.57

73.1%

73.0%

$64.21

$69.05

South America rig utilisation

$60

Northwest Europe rig utilisation

$55

US Gulf rig utilisation

$50

$48.69 $46.89

60% 50%

52.3%

53.3%

53.0% 51.5%

52.7%

54.5%

57.9%

59.4%

$45 58.1%

56.7%

57.2%

57.5%

58.4%

$40

40%

$35

30%

32.4%

33.0%

31.4%

30.3%

33.5% 34.3%

34.2%

34.7% 35.8%

37.0% 37.8%

37.8%

36.0%

$30

Jan17 Feb17 Mar17 Apr17 May17 Jun17 Jul17 Aug17 Sep17 Oct17 Nov17 Dec17 Jan18

AVERAGE DAY RATES JANUARY 2018 £20,000 £16,229 £15,000

2017 2018

£13,890

£10,000

£7,736 £5,958

£5,000

£0

www.osjonline.com

£4,996

PSVs <900m2

£5,764 £5,959

PSVs >900m2

£5,481

AHTS <22,000bhp

AHTS >22,000bhp

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

Middle East Offshore Support Journal Conference

7-8 May 2018, Dubai

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The 5th Annual Middle East OSJ Conference in Dubai brings together leading shipowners, oil majwors, shipbuilders, regulators, financiers and technology providers to discuss the opportunities and strategies for coping with a rapidly changing market.

Join us in Dubai for the annual gathering of the Middle East’s Offshore Support industry and hear: • What is the demand outlook for OSVs to 2020?

• ADNOC Offshore’s strategy and objectives towards the year 2030 • ARAMCO’s offshore plans and requirements • Dealing with terminations and contract renegotiations • How the IPO of ARAMCO will impact the offshore oil and gas sector • Economics of stacking and reactivation of vessels • The level of vessel efficiency the market will require when it comes back • Shipowners perspectives on digitalisation and disruptive technology • Iran’s offshore oil and gas project: what is happening?

• Financial strategies and mitigation of risk Book your place online today at www.osjmiddleeast.com/book-now or by contacting Rigzin Angdu on +65 6809 3198 or at rigzin.angdu@rivieramm.com

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MARKET DATA | 43

Offshore vessel values

January 2018 The table on page 44 shows the monthly percentage change in value for offshore support vessels, by year of build, from 1 January to 31 January 2018.

Values firmed slightly in the anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS)/anchor-handling tug (AHT) and platform supply vessel (PSV) sectors this month.

PSVs PSV values have remained stable this month. No sales were confirmed this month.

AHTSs & AHTs AHTS values have remained stable this month. Two sales have taken place this month. However, no prices were disclosed.

Jaya Defender (10,730 bhp, August 2009, Xinlian Shipbuilding) was sold to Halul Offshore for an undisclosed price.

Malaviya Twenty Eight (7,100 bhp, February 2007, Bharati) was sold to Samson Maritime for an undisclosed price.

TOTAL VALUE OF SECONDHAND SALES IN JANUARY 2018 VS 2017

NUMBER OF SECONDHAND SALES IN JANUARY 2018 VS 2017

US$M

Number of secondhand sales

80 800

70

700

January 2018 January 2017

600

January 2017

50

500

40

400

30

300 200

20

100

10

0

January 2018

60

Bulker

Tanker

Container

Gas

OSV

• The total value of sales is down 30% from January 2018 compared to January 2017.

• Bulker, tanker and gas sales are all lower by transaction value this January with the difference in value the greatest in the gas sector with two sales being confirmed in January 2018 and only one with a disclosed price.

• Container secondhand transaction values are higher this January however the number of sales are the same, suggesting a slightly firmer market in 2018 compared to January 2017.

www.osjonline.com

0

Bulker

Tanker

Container

Gas

OSV

• Total sales by number were down 38% for January 2018 compared to January 2017.

• Bulker sales are down by 29 this January.

• The tanker market was very quiet in January with only 15 sales in 2018 compared to 22 in 2017.

• Only two sales occurred in the gas and OSV market in January 2018, however only one price was disclosed for the gas sector and no prices were confirmed for the OSV vessels.

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

44 | MARKET DATA

OFFSHORE VALUES PERCENTAGE CHANGE/1,000s OF DOLLARS: JANUARY 2018 BUILT

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

LARGE PSV

MEDIUM PSV

SMALL PSV

SUPER AHTS

MEDIUM AHTS

SMALL AHTS

4.6%

4.6%

4.6%

4.4%

5.7%

5.0%

5.2k

3.6k

1.7k

24k

8.2k

5.5k

4.5%

4.5%

4.5%

4.3%

5.4%

4.7%

5.2k

3.6k

1.7k

24k

8k

5.2k

4.4%

4.3%

4.3%

4.3%

5.0%

4.1%

5.2k

3.6k

1.7k

24k

8k

5.2k

4.2%

4.3%

4.2%

4.3%

4.4%

3.7%

5.2k

3.4k

1.7k

24k

8k

5.2k

4.1%

4.1%

4.0%

4.2%

3.9%

3.2%

5.1k

3.3k

1.7k

24k

8k

5.2k

3.9%

4.0%

4.0%

4.2%

3.6%

2.7%

4.8k

3.3k

1.7k

24k

8k

5.2k

3.8%

3.8%

4.0%

4.1%

3.3%

2.5%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.2k

3.7%

3.7%

3.7%

4.1%

3.1%

2.5%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.1k

3.6%

3.5%

3.6%

4.0%

2.7%

2.1%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.1k

3.6%

3.6%

3.4%

4.0%

3.0%

2.0%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.1k

3.5%

3.4%

3.5%

3.9%

2.1%

1.4%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.1k

3.4%

3.5%

2.9%

3.9%

2.9%

2.0%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5.1k

3.4%

3.3%

3.5%

3.8%

2.0%

2.7%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5k

3.4%

3.3%

3.4%

3.7%

2.8%

3.7%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5k

3.2%

3.5%

3.1%

3.8%

3.6%

0.0%

4.8k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5k

3.3%

3.1%

3.7%

3.7%

4.6%

6.3%

4.7k

3.3k

1.6k

24k

8k

5k

Offshore Support Journal | March 2018

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