Modern autonomous design

The novel design is smaller and lighter than most current guard vessels used to protect offshore operations and boasts sustainable solutions as well as exploiting the benefits of autonomous shipping. In addition, the AGV is set to operate more efficiently as well as require lower operating costs due to no crew being required.

This clean and lean concept to replace conventional guard vessels came to life in a project group facilitated by LISA, a community for maritime professionals. The project group resulted in a consortium, which includes C-Job Naval Architects, Sea Machines, SeaZip Offshore Service and recently joined by MARIN and eL-Tec elektrotechniek BV. Their combined industry knowledge created this viable, innovative, and sustainable alternative which benefits both wind asset owners and guard vessel operators.

Offshore structures surveillance

The AGV is specifically designed for surveillance of offshore structures throughout their life cycle, ranging from wind farms to substation platforms and cable routes. With any area that needs to be secured, the AGV can continuously monitor nearby marine traffic visually as well as via radar and AIS data. With any vessel that approaches the area, measures will be taken to secure the area in order to avoid collisions and damage to the offshore infrastructure. An intruding vessel can be communicated with and will receive information on how to safely navigate the area as well as being physically escorted away from the site by the AGV. Additionally, the encounter will be recorded to provide video footage in case of any violation or accident.

Pelle de Jong, founding partner of LISA, explained:

“Guard vessels perform an essential job, however, it is not the most exciting one for crew. Combined with the fact that conventional guard vessels are mostly outdated and thus aren’t necessarily the most comfortable let alone sustainable, it can be difficult to find well-trained crew willing to do the job. The group set out to improve upon the overall process of securing an offshore area while incorporating sustainable solutions and reducing overall cost. By utilizing the knowledge we have as a group as well as the technology already available, we succeeded in creating a design which does this and more.”

Sustainable features

Thanks to incorporating state-of-the-art technology, the AGV does not require crew onboard the vessel. Therefore, accommodations can be eliminated in the design, meaning the ship will be considerably smaller than existing guard vessels. The smaller size creates a number of opportunities, such as using batteries thanks to reduced propulsion requirements. Additionally, the reduced power and lack of onboard crew leads to lower operational costs.

Sustainability is key to ensure both the viability and durability of the design. Rolph Hijdra, autonomous research lead at C-Job Naval Architects, said:

“We are pleased we were able to develop a battery-powered design, ensuring the AGV is free of harmful emissions. Additionally, the ship has solar panels across the top which allows for the continuation of navigation and communications in case the batteries run out of power. Contrary to current guard vessels, the AGV will continue to be operational even with rough sea conditions and have minimal underwater noise owing to the smaller size, reduced propulsion requirements and absence of a diesel engine.”

Multiple AGVs onsite

The AGV will recharge its batteries via a charging station. The charging station can be moored independently or connected to existing equipment onsite. Depending on the situation, charging could either be via a cable connection to the on-site equipment such as an offshore transformer platform or locally generated using renewable fuels.

The consortium envisions an offshore site will need a number of AGVs, which can take turns in monitoring the area and recharging. Harm Mulder, operations manager at SeaZip Offshore Service, said:

“The Autonomous Guard Vessels will be constantly patrolling the area and take turns recharging. One fully charged AGV will remain on stand-by supporting operations if a situation arises. For example, when an intrusion is detected – one of the AGVs will monitor, warn, and escort the intruding ship to safety, while the others continue normal operations. Alternatively, it could take over from a monitoring vessel in case the battery runs out of power.”

Human Intervention via Command Center

While the consortium continues to work on the AGV design, they have considered human intervention for the unmanned vessel. Conventional guard vessels patrolling offshore structures, from installation through to decommissioning, have few incidents that require intervention from those onboard the vessel. For those exceptional circumstances the AGV, if human intervention would be required, will be connected to a command center which could control the AGV remotely to ensure correct action is taken. In addition, all data collected by the AGV will be send to the command center. This can be a standalone on a mother ship or a shore-based station.

Smart vessel technology for niche market segments

Frank Relou, business development manager at Sea Machines, said:

“Smart vessel technology will have the most significant initial impact on small workboats, such as this guard vessel. The development of autonomous technology for vessel operations are occurring on an international level but namely in niche segments, such as the guard vessel and other examples, currently operating in (with supervised autonomy), marine survey, fire, patrol, aquaculture and offshore wind operations.”

For more information on this AGV, please contact Sea Machines here.

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Sea Machines Increases the Productivity and Safety of Offshore Vessels

Read about how Sea Machines technologies support the offshore wind industry in our blog article on the subject: “Sea Machines Increases the Productivity and Safety of Offshore Vessels.”

The post Connect with Sea Machines at WindEurope Offshore 2019 in Copenhagen appeared first on Sea Machines Robotics.

Sea Machines has plans to attend the H20 Conference 2019, from June 5 through 7, in Nova Scotia. As a leader in the Blue Tech space, we look forward to meeting with conference attendees representing marine defense, offshore energy, fisheries and aquaculture, marine transportation and other sectors. The event gives Sea Machines the opportunity to hear the needs of these industry leaders and commercial vessel operators, as well as share the latest updates about our autonomous marine technology.

To schedule a one-on-one, B2B meeting with Sea Machines, click here. 

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Experts say that 2019 will be a year of growth for the global offshore energy industry, a prediction already being proven by the uptick in demand for offshore exploration activities over last year. As the market rebounds, operators will prioritize consolidation and innovation to stay ahead. Those who add innovation to their fleets by way of new, advanced technology have the most to gain. Offshore vessel owner/operators who add marine autonomy to their small-to-medium sized offshore workboats can benefit from increased productivity and predictability, while reducing their overall risk and operational costs as they support many types of offshore projects.

Deep Challenges

No matter the mission, those in the offshore marine space face unique challenges when it comes to ensuring projects are completed on time, within budget and safely. Whether providing support for offshore construction, offshore oil and gas, offshore wind farm installations, hydrographic and seismic survey operations, offshore spill response, aquaculture, sub-sea cable inspections, or any other number of offshore projects, the risks of being at sea hundreds of miles from land are the same.

The most common challenges for those in the offshore marine industry include:

• Productivity fluctuations, due to unpredictable factors such as weather;

• High operational costs; and

• Risk of human error related to execution of “dangerous, dull and dirty” work.

Operators facing these challenges today now have the option of mitigating risk by installing Sea Machines autonomous marine technology aboard small-to-medium sized offshore workboats. (In the near future, similar technology will be available for larger workboats and Offshore Support Vessels [OSVs]). Read on to learn more.

Extract Higher Productivity

Smaller offshore support boats, such as daughter craft, tugboats, patrol craft and crew boats are ideal candidates for boosting productivity via autonomous marine technology. Autonomous vessels can work longer hours, even in periods of low-light or poor visibility, with greater precision and predictability. Unmanned support vessels can operate in very poor and harsh weather conditions that might otherwise compromise tasks and put mariners at risk.

Broad coverage areas or long transits to an offshore site from a mainland aboard offshore commercial boats can be executed autonomously, using dynamic waypoint following capabilities. Computers housed on autonomous workboats execute pre-programmed routes and can adjust direction in fractions of a second without human intervention to maximize efficiency. If an unexpected object, such as another vessel or a buoy, appears in the autonomous boat’s path, an on-board computer (powered by cameras and other sensors) will detect it far sooner than the human eye can, and re-route safely around it before resuming an efficient mission.

High-bollard pull tugboats towing out loaded barges also benefit from dynamic waypoint following, and can be programmed to operate in collaborative following modes. Such capabilities allow tugboats in complex formations to maintain an exact course and speed from the point of departure to the offshore project site, eliminating fatigue and increasing operational predictability.

For marine operators conducting offshore survey missions or offshore seismic support operations, autonomous-command and remote-control capabilities aboard fleets allow more data to be gathered with fewer resources and less time. Manned mother ships paired with smaller unmanned daughter craft can collect data at all hours of the day and night, as un-crewed workboats don’t require stops for low-light conditions, breaks or shift changes. Many unmanned vessels programmed to operate collaboratively can create force-multiplication that maximizes coverage and reduces the time required to collect data.

These capabilities also hold true for offshore spill response and recovery operations, which also utilize predictable patterns that can be optimized by data-driven paths and dynamic waypoint following. Force multiplication, increased operational time, and reduced costs and risks only add to the advantages.

Drill Down Costs

Because autonomous systems integrate seamlessly with common on-board marine electronics – such as AIS, GPS, radar, cameras and sensors – a single remote operator can monitor the live data feeds of unmanned boats in real-time. This is particularly important in reducing the costs of offshore patrol and security boats monitoring high-value sites, such as energy platforms or wind farms.

In instances where payloads are required, a single operator can deploy or activate on-board equipment from another vessel or an on-shore site. Remotely operated payloads for offshore applications can include ROV and UUV deployment, launch stations, cranes, winches, security equipment, cameras, sensors, communications relays, aerial drones and more.

Pairing manned mother vessels with unmanned daughter craft – ideal for offshore surveillance and monitoring, surveying, seismic operations and spill responses – reduces crew expenses significantly and can increase operational periods due to the reduction in stop-work periods related to shift changes, darkness and weather.

Increase Safety

When it comes to offshore marine operations, nothing is more important than safety. Installing autonomous marine technology aboard vessels bolsters mariners with computer vision. Computer vision can process and detect objects sooner than the human eye, even in perfect conditions, and provides a redundant set of eyes for those in the bridge – helping to mitigate fatigue, distraction and poor visibility due to low light or weather.

Dynamic waypoint following further reduces the risks of mariner fatigue and distraction, acting as a modern autopilot that controls variable course and propulsion; as workboats autonomously execute planned paths, with obstacle avoidance enabled as a safety measure. This allows the mariner to focus on higher level tasks and be freed from tedious job of navigation, which is especially demanding in poor sea conditions.

When unmanned surface vessels are deployed, weather is less likely to compromise missions or negatively impact human health. Put simply, sea sickness, injury and dire risks to crews are eliminated.

For offshore jobs in extreme locations, such as in the Arctic, or toxic conditions, such as those that exist during spill incidents, unmanned vessels eliminate the need to expose crews, thus improving overall health and safety. When used in this way, an operator-in-the-loop can program a vessel to collect data or spilled product, deploy payloads and monitor surroundings in real time, all from a safe location.

Accomplish More Offshore, While Reducing Risk and Cost

For operators of small- and medium-sized vessels, such as offshore tugs, patrol boats, spill-response vessels and crew boats, Sea Machines SM series of autonomous-command and remote-control products are available now. Those who take advantage of Sea Machines products will, in most cases, see return on investment realized within a year, thanks to increases in productivity, predictability and efficiency.

There’s no need to build new vessels. The Sea Machines SM300 or SM200 can be added to workboats as a retrofit or as part of new-build specifications, typically requiring only 10 components to install. Most vessels can be outfitted with a Sea Machines system in two days or less. Even for small fleets, the system is surprisingly accessible, thanks to an affordable price point or flexible leasing options.

If you’re ready to increase your fleet’s capability, predictability and productivity, while simultaneously reducing your at-sea risk and operational costs, contact Sea Machines to discuss the options for upgrading your vessels today, using the form below.

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Learn More: Sea Machines Increases the Productivity and Safety of Offshore Vessels

Sea Machines marine autonomy for offshore applications

In this “Sea Machines Increases the Productivity and Safety of Offshore Vessels” article, learn how Sea Machines products enable surface vessels to do more with less, at reduced risk and cost, for a wide variety of missions. The article also shares the most-common use cases for autonomy.

The post Sea Machines Attends 2019 Offshore Technology Conference appeared first on Sea Machines Robotics.

“The main reasons for autonomous technology are its ability to provide improved performance and productivity … Autonomous technology provides significant value in areas of routine operations. A large percentage of OSV work is routine, such as regular transits, tracking or loitering. I don’t see heavy cargo OSVs operating unmanned in the foreseeable future. What I do see is an autonomous system working on behalf of a captain, mate or helmsman to empower operations with vessel intelligence and to de-risk and elevate overall vessel performance.”

Johnson also added that he predicts the first applications for autonomous vessel technology will be in routine or dangerous tasks, such as long-duration data collection by survey vessel, or oil spill response activity.

Click here to read the full “Autonomous Vessels: Regulations Must Improve to Support Safe Roll-Out” article, as well as commentary by others in the industry.

Caption: Sea Machines and Boston Harbor Cruises are collaborating in data collection and system testing aboard offshore support vessels. (Shown: Boston Harbor Cruises’ Scarlett Isabella)

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