Transparency and data access in the offshore energy support vessel sector

Leading CTV operators are driving for more transparency around vessel performance as the market seeks to ‘level the playing field’ in offshore wind support. While historically project owners have led demands for greater transparency around operational and performance data, a number of CTV vessel operators have identified a clear market opportunity in being ahead of the curve.

Establishing a ‘performance benchmark’ for the CTV industry marks a commercial opportunity for offshore wind support firms who take the lead in data transparency and digitalisation. We spoke to Chris Huxley-Reynard, engineering director of Reygar Ltd, a UK-based company active in fully integrated remote monitoring and fleet reporting systems to the marine industry, to find out about the market opportunity for the offshore wind industry. He comments: “The CTV market has always been competitive. Which is why they all want to demonstrate credentials and why they want a fair playing field.”

The drive for transparency has been
a long time in the making, coming in response to rising demand from offshore
wind project owners for CTV operational and performance data. This data, which
includes motion, engine performance, weather conditions and fuel consumption,
has a strong influence on procurement decisions as owners look to increase
‘time on turbine’ for their technicians, as well as the overall safety and
cost-efficiency of their projects.

To date however, supplying this data
has been seen as a ‘check-box’ requirement. Initiatives such as ‘p-plot’,
supported by wind farm owners, have provided a strong model for increasing
clarity by looking to formulate a standard to measure the relative operational
performance of CTV’s in different sea states. However, this top-down approach
to shared data has received a mixed reception from vessel operators, given the
perceived commercial risk of opening their data to the market and the cost of
gathering and processing the necessary operational data.

In contrast, leading operators
including Seacat Services, CWind, Tidal Transit, High Speed Transfers, and
Maritime Craft Services have found that taking data monitoring into their own
hands through the installation of the BareFLEET system is an opportunity for
commercial development, rather than a hurdle.

Huxley-Reynard comments: “I think
CTV operators want to prove their credentials to wind farm operator customers.
They want evidence on how their vessels are performing, in various weather
conditions and regarding fuel efficiency.” BareFLEET is a fleet monitoring
platform that offers insight into all aspects of vessel performance and health.
Developed to help maximise the operational effectiveness of fleets, BareFLEET
automatically gathers a comprehensive set of engine, navigational, vibration,
motion and health data, including fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions, vertical
heave motion, tower impact and push-on force, plus indications of motion
sickness.

“The system can also offer benefits
from a sustainability point of view, particularly regarding understanding where
fuel is being used and potential opportunities to reduce fuel consumption”,
says Huxley-Reynard. “The system also offers key performance indicators, which
allows the user to score the effectiveness of a transfer from 0 to 10.
Technicians need to arrive at work in a good state to be able to do their job,
which is why measuring the ride comfort is of importance.  Next to that the system can also register the
performance of onboard machinery to plan preventative maintenance. The system
serves various purposes for different people. For instance, on the one hand you
have the daily digital log feature, where a skipper can enter information
regarding personnel, transfer and bunkering. On the other hand the CTV operator
can take this information from the skipper and send it to their customer, serving
as evidence how well the vessel is performing and where potential improvements
lie. But also, BareFLEET allows wind farm operators to maximise the time technicians
have on the turbine. It all comes down to the cost of operations and
maintenance support, the cost of chartering and running a fleet to maximize
time of turbine, and the environmental benefits of limiting unnecessary fuel
consumption.”

“Evidence on how their vessels are performing”

Critically, CTV operators have also
highlighted that achieving this transparency is not coming at a high commercial
or financial cost. The adoption of the BareFLEET vessel monitoring is creating
substantial efficiencies for their businesses and setting them apart in the
market. By adopting advanced monitoring systems such as BareFLEET, operators
are able to understand the performance of their vessels in different weather
conditions and under different crews. Whilst in the short-term, taking the
opportunity to drive commercial improvements through increased understanding of
vessel performance will set businesses apart, in the long term the sharing of
this data will ensure that a level playing field is brought about for the
industry as a whole.

“Understanding vessel performance”

“It is a very affordable thing to do, taking the step into digitalization”, says Huxley-Reynard. “All this daily data bundled into information that can be read easily, at the cost of pint of beer.”

This article was previously published in the Offshore WIND magazine, issue 2, 2019.