Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OFFSHORE A supplement to

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WELCOME | 1

CONTENTS

Digitalisation and the future of offshore connectivity

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ROUNDTABLE

OSV owners debate digitalisation challenges

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OSV COMMUNICATIONS Vessels need the bandwidth elasticity

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IOT & DIGITALISATION

Connectivity for data analytics

Ronald Spithout: president, Inmarsat Maritime

A

ttitudes towards digitalisation in the offshore support vessel (OSV) sector are reaching maturity. Inmarsat is convinced that the return from layup by a significant number of OSVs in 2019 will see attitudes towards internet-of-things (IoT) technology transformed.

Inmarsat’s view is based on the way digital leaders are already choosing high-speed broadband to achieve efficiency, safety and environmental gains in ship operations and crew welfare, but also with the knowledge that key enablers are coming to market this year to deliver the industry-wide benefits.

Part of this enablement will come through flexibility in service offerings, which is why the Fleet Xpress for offshore vessels service has been refined to reflect swings in data usage that are more pronounced than for cargo ships. The service offers free upgrades and downgrades in service levels over its contract periods.

There is also evidence to suggest the enablement imperative is more pressing than is the case in mainstream shipping for other reasons. Inmarsat’s 2018 research report Industrial IoT on Land and At Sea saw 51% of 125

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maritime respondents citing the time lag between collecting data and data availability as the biggest single obstacle to IoT adoption. This was 11% ahead of any other sector, but for OSVs, the proportion was even higher, at 56%.

This is the type of industry reality that demands easier enablement. In this case, Inmarsat’s response is Fleet Data – the first IoT solution allowing owners to pre-process data from onboard sensors and upload to a secure cloudbased platform to support an application program interface (API) to interact with analytics software ashore. We believe Fleet Data will be decisive in helping IoT adoption.

Also new from Inmarsat this year is Fleet Hotspot – a managed wifi portal powered by Fleet Xpress that recognises the wellbeing of a ship’s crew or contractor personnel as a separate imperative. Fleet Hotspot allows vessel operators to offer high-speed internet access on board without handling payments or setting up a specific network for crew or contractors.

Other pressure points include cyber security and safety. Here, we have enhanced our Fleet Secure Unified Threat Management service to include Fleet Secure Endpoint to protect vessel networks by isolating attacks; and a Cyber Awareness app for mobile devices. Also this year, Inmarsat is upgrading Global Maritime Distress and Safety System capabilities through new Fleet Safety services that will include distress chat functionality. Stealing the march on other systems, Fleet Safety is approved by the IMO. Even those sceptical of shipping’s place in the 3D printing, artificial intelligence and robotics conversations must also acknowledge that Amazon, Alibaba and other disruptors see commercial shipping as ripe for e-commerce platform convergence. In a comparable way, Inmarsat sees digitalisation in the data-hungry upstream sector providing a separate impetus for the OSV journey towards IoT-based solutions.

In the following pages, you can read about the things Inmarsat is doing to enable that journey. ■

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FLEET XPRESS

Reliable, high-speed broadband for OSVs

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DRONES

Satcoms aid UAV-based remote inspections

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MISSION SUPPORT

Live video streaming for Nekton ocean research

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ENABLERS

Tools for crew welfare, IoT and cyber security

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CONNECTIVITY MATTERS Flexible broadband tackles crewing challenges Published April 2019 Supplement to: Offshore Support Journal www.osjonline.com In association with 99 City Road, London EC1Y 1AX England www.inmarsat.com @InmarsatGlobal In cooperation with: JLA Media Ltd www.j-l-a.com Published by:

www.rivieramm.com ©2019 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.

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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.

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

2 | ROUNDTABLE

OSV owners tackle connectivity and IoT challenges At a recent OSJ roundtable debate, chief executives, commercial and information officers tackled the key communications challenges faced by OSV owners

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Alberto Perez (Inmarsat) explains how crew welfare and IoT should be priorities for vessel connectivity

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

uring a thought-provoking roundtable debate in February 2019 communications and IT directors from some of the leading OSV operators discussed how internet-ofthings (IoT) technology, more advanced communications and digitalisation will shape the OSV sector. This roundtable was hosted by Inmarsat and Riviera Maritime Media at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference, Awards and Exhibition, in London.

OSV owners are bringing vessels out of lay-up to cater to rising demand among offshore drilling and maintenance operations. Owners are fitting more sensors on their vessels to obtain operational data that can be transferred to shore quickly to improve performance monitoring and decision making.

Inmarsat Maritime vice president for offshore energy and fishing Eric Griffin commenced the discussion by introducing the potential benefits of enhanced connectivity to OSV operators and introduced the transformative concept of IoT .

“By providing workers with on-demand and real-time information, mobility applications and portable technologies, they can finally change how work is carried out offshore,” Mr Griffin said.

He explained the potential value of digitalisation on board vessels, which could facilitate condition monitoring

for more effective maintenance and inspection regimes that are dictated by real-time data. “This enables owners to replace planned maintenance with preventative maintenance, driven by early monitoring of sensor data to significantly reduce downtime,” said Mr Griffin.

His colleague, Inmarsat Maritime director of business development Alberto Perez, cited the results from research into the future adoption of IoT in maritime sectors, which included interviews with 20 OSV operators. Researchers found that OSV operators plan to spend, on average, US$3M in the next three years on IoT. Around 60% of respondents told Inmarsat that transmitting the data from vessel to shore was a key challenge to overcome.

“To address this, we recently launched Fleet Data as a service for IoT platforms that allow operators to send data using our secondary bandwidth, which does not interfere with vessel primary connectivity,” said Mr Perez.

Data can be sent to a cloud-based portal for third-party vendors to access and for data analytics and diagnostics.

Mechanisms for IoT During the roundtable discussion, Hornbeck Offshore Services chief operating officer Carl Annessa explained that data analysis should be conducted on vessels. “We are looking at mechanisms

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Roundtable participants • Moderator: Riviera Maritime Media editor Martyn Wingrove • Hornbeck Offshore Services chief operating officer Carl Annessa • Topaz Energy and Marine chief information officer Kris Vedat • Topaz Energy and Marine chief operating officer Martin Helwig • Marine Technologies Norway managing director Sveinung Tollefsen • Seacor Marine Holdings chief executive John Gellert • Seacor Marine Holdings managing director Anthony Weller • Inmarsat Maritime vice president for offshore energy Eric Griffin • Inmarsat Maritime director of business development Alberto Perez

to trend our data on the ship and report relevant data – I need information that I can act upon,” he said.

This information needs to be sent through a telemetry system that is reliable and secure so managers can spot the anomalies. “When we see data that is out of the trend, then we need to take action,” said Mr Annessa. He added that applications could analyse the data and notify managers when there are changes.

Topaz Energy and Marine chief information officer Kris Vedat explained that IoT was an enabler for conditionbased maintenance. “We have IoT projects running, one of them is live lube oil sampling,” said Mr Vedat. Topaz is also monitoring fuel consumption on its fleet of OSVs from one centre.

“If there is a fleet of vessels of a similar class, then operators can analyse vessel data on one platform and can identify patterns and see trends,” he said.

Topaz chief operating officer Martin Helwig noted that data should be stored onshore, where analytics can drive decisions on board vessels. “There is a huge commercial upside in IoT,” he

Delegates at the roundtable meeting discussed the positive applications of IoT and connectivity

said. Once data is ashore, Topaz uses algorithms in its analysis and then sends back information to vessels.

“Analytics ashore has to drive the decisions on board the vessels,” Mr Helwig continued. “Crew need to be decision

Challenges and barriers

makers; they should not be monitoring great amounts of data. Crew should stay alert and act according to the information.”

He added that computers with artificial intelligence (AI) can highlight exceptions in the data to shore managers. “If we see the same alert from five different ships, then that is the time for more robust analysis,” said Mr Helwig.

It is a viewpoint that Marine Technologies Norway managing director Sveinung Tollefsen agreed with. Mr Tollefsen expects IoT will enable AI to identify issues if computers are fed large data sets and learn how to set alarm points. “Automating that process will enable the systems to learn themselves,” he said. “The more data that can be put in, the better those things get.”

Seacor Marine Holdings chief executive John Gellert also highlighted that a key benefit of IoT and connectivity would be the ability to reduce the number of dynamic positioning (DP) operators on vessels. “By building a strong enough IoT, owners can make a safety case and be safer with fewer people on board,” he said, adding that “most accidents are caused by human error”.

liftboats need bandwidth of up to 100 Mbps, but this can be obstructed by structures.

“On a vessel, the bottleneck is the radome [satellite communications antenna]. If we want reliability we need to have two radomes and that doubles the costs,” said Mr Weller. He said one solution is to launch more satellites to provide more choice of beams.

Mr Tollefsen, who supports communications and information technology for the Edison Chouest OSV fleet, said classification societies can also be barriers to IoT adoption. “Class societies need to be adaptive, so we use IoT to be more efficient. Class has to accept how operators adopt IoT,” he said.

Mr Helwig identified the industry mindset as a barrier to IoT adoption. “We are missing a more agnostic view on this,” he said. Noting that vendors need to change their operations, he continued: “Engine manufacturers are willing to do analysis on data for their own engines, but not across other machinery.” To Mr Helwig, value is created when data is shared: “What becomes proprietary is how you use the data, the analysis and the algorithms that are built in,” he said.

On this subject, Mr Vedat noted that partnerships may be a better business model. “The mindset in our industry from

The mindset in our industry from operators, engine manufacturers and from class societies has to change” Kris Vedat (Topaz)

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Operational challenges that are specific to offshore vessels created potential obstacles to adopting IoT. Seacor Marine Holdings managing director in the Middle East Anthony Weller said passenger vessels and

operators, engine manufacturers and from class societies has to change,” he said.

Indeed, there are indications that class societies have listened to similar arguments.

“ABS is good at this. It has agreed for

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

4 | ROUNDTABLE

us to take our drydocking cycle from two to five years,” said Mr Vedat. “Now it is a question of convincing the flag states.”

Topaz and ABS are jointly transitioning vessel class renewals from a time-based model towards a condition-based one.

Mr Annessa highlighted the overriding significance of continuous connectivity.

“Antennas and switches are getting better and more reliable, but outages are still a problem and are always inconvenient,” he said.

Outages become a greater issue on vessels that rely on connectivity for data flow and crew welfare. “The more reliant you get on having communications, the

availability becomes important. We need to have reliability to make the real utility of any data management system useful to us.”

This connectivity also needs to be secured against cyber threats. “There is less risk if operators do appropriate switch protection and have defensive firewalls on networks,” explained Mr Annessa, before contending that vendors can be a weak link.

“We get worried about spurious cyber coming in through the satellite communications system and some data applications that may have an open pipe,” Mr Annessa said. “Hopefully, it is one-way traffic outbound; but there have been cases where [malware] tries crawling back the other way through some of these applications and has

more you care about it,” he said. “Pipe

gotten into the ships.”

Reliability of connectivity

Managers learn about the benefits of Fleet Data for their IoT requirements

Key findings • OSV operators want to analyse data on vessels and send data trends ashore for analysis • Fleet managers can use IoT to identify patterns and trends on multiple vessels • IoT could reduce the number of crew required on vessels • Communications hardware and connectivity rates could be IoT barriers • The industry mindset needs to change to facilitate partnerships and data sharing • Communications outages remain an issue, but reliability is improving • Data pipes must be reliable and cyber secure • Dual antenna solutions provide reliability and security • Crew video streaming needs to be controlled • Operational video streaming benefits security and subsea intervention monitoring • Latency can be an issue for remote control • An agnostic data platform is required • Ownership of vessel data and fleet information should remain with shipowners

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

Connectivity has become such an essential part of our business, so, the reliability warrants redundancy” Anthony Weller (Seacor)

Bandwidth requirements OSV owners have varying bandwidth needs for vessels, often depending on their workload, operations and number of people on board. Mr Annessa said vessels could operate on bandwidth of 256 kbps on the uplink and downlink for crew phone calls and emails: “But if there are 100 people on board and they want to be YouTubing at one time, that is not going to work.”

Mr Annessa said the ability to scale bandwidth delivery up and down is beneficial for OSVs with varying onboard passengers. “We negotiate with clients on how much bandwidth they want to pay for and then consider what our hardware and network will allow,” he said, adding, vessels can handle 2 Mbps, but demand may rise to 4 Mbps.

“We need more satellites; there is never enough bandwidth,” said Mr Annessa.

“Clients want reports out and want to do live streaming. Even with compression technology they need more pipe.”

He added that this area of negotiation with clients can be a barrier. “Service partners are happy to turn it up, but we are contracted to a certain speed and it may take a week of negotiations with the client,” Mr Annessa said. “In the meantime, all their people and ours are acting like their hair is on fire, asking ‘what is the matter with the connectivity here’.”

Topaz vessels have, on average, 3 Mbps on the downlink, said Mr Vedat. This can be boosted to 10 Mbps if the vessel’s job requires it. “We split that between client and ship networks,” he said. “We always ensure that there is sufficient bandwidth for business operations and for separate networks for our clients. We

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ROUNDTABLE | 5

Crew control

Carl Annessa (Hornbeck): “We are looking at mechanisms to trend our data on the ship and report relevant data”

have the facilities on board to tailor the bandwidth specifically for the client.”

Seacor’s Mr Gellert agreed that OSVs with large passenger manifests need higher bandwidths than those with a crew of eight on board and that this requires satellite operators to be flexible in capacity delivery. “When we just have the crew, bandwidth is going to be 512 kbps, but on the crew transfer vessels we need up to 3 Mbps so passengers can download more data,” he said.

Data packages can go up to 80 GB or 160 GB, but then the connectivity may slow because of fair-use policies. “Then we get complaints from the passengers because everyone is on YouTube and social media,” said Mr Gellert. “Flexibility and cost are always issues.”

The reality is that OSV owners need to control the use of onboard connectivity among crew to prevent high usage and prioritise operational requirements. For example, Seacor tries to ban the streaming of videos, said Mr Gellert: “Streaming is a huge consumer of data and bandwidth; it is ridiculous. Everyone wants to send video to social media applications, so we try to take off the streaming sites.”

Mr Weller acknowledged that masters on board vessels can identify IP sources of streaming and can speak to these offenders: “Across the fleet, we selectively cut out certain websites and this can be centrally monitored.” He noted that crew and passengers are advised to download films onshore on to their devices to view when on board, but not to attempt that on the vessels to optimise bandwidth use.

The adoption of IoT on vessels is also being hampered by a lack of industry standards in data collection and analysis, according to Mr Gellert: “There are marine standards that exist, but they are not being followed and that is the problem.”

Vendors are also reluctant to share data with competitors, but Inmarsat’s Mr Perez thinks agnostic systems are a future route for IoT. “Operators have to transfer the data into a common platform,” he said and Inmarsat is in a strong position to be that agnostic platform partner. “We probably have the biggest footprint on ships, so we should be seen as agnostic,” said Mr Perez.

He also believes shipowners should own data from their own vessels and fleet. With Fleet Data they can upload data to a cloudbased platform and then decide which companies can access this for analysis. ■

Latency affects remote ROV operations OSV operations can be severely impacted by latency, the delay in data and voice transmissions related to the distance that radio waves need to travel between the ship, satellite, ground station and shore base, then return the other way.

Marine Technologies Norway managing director Sveinung Tollefsen said latency could be a barrier to real-time data applications. “[Latency] is crucial for remote operations,” he said, explaining that driving an ROV over VSAT is difficult at the best of times, and made far more complex by latency delays on the commands. Latency can also affect the monitoring of ROV operations, although engineers do view video from the seabed.

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Multiple antennas prevent satellite shadows The availability of satellite coverage can significantly impede operations, especially for OSVs operating in West Africa, where there are gaps in Ku-band beam coverage.

This issue has the most impact on connectivity if vessels are operating close to drilling rigs and platforms, which can block the line-of-sight to satellites.

To resolve the problem, some operators are installing multiple antennas, as Seacor Marine Holdings managing director Anthony Weller explained: “We installed a second antenna to make sure we were never in the shadow of a mast.”

At the time, the vessel was operating off Nigeria, where there are piracy threats; when shadows interrupt communications, this can trigger a security alarm at the client’s headquarters.

Seacor’s flotels and construction vessels have at least two VSAT antenna on board. “It has become such an essential part of our business, so, the reliability warrants redundancy,” said Mr Weller.

Some clients will even bring their own antennas on board, according to Hornbeck Offshore Services chief operating officer Carl Annessa. “Majors will bring their own systems for their primary business and will then rely on the ship’s system as a fall-back and for their crew communications,” he explained.

Topaz tries to limit the amount of communications equipment that clients take on board because of the risk of interference with vessel VSAT. “The more communications devices there are, the greater the interference becomes,” said Topaz Energy and Marine chief information officer Kris Vedat. “We have hardware on board that is scalable to accommodate client requirements. We had client equipment on board causing interference to our core systems, which is problematic.”

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

6 | OSV COMMUNICATIONS

How owners can meet their clients’ broadband needs

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ffshore support vessel (OSV) owners are finding that flexibility in terms of their satellite communications contracts and broadband capabilities is becoming increasingly important as the market emerges from years of downturn.

As owners reactivate vessels from layup they need flexible VSAT services that can meet their connectivity requirements.

VSAT needs to be adaptable for occasions where vessels are on short-term charters or if owners expect large bandwidth fluctuations during contract periods.

“It is important to be able to upscale and downscale bandwidth over the course of the contract period because every requirement is different, and customers have varied connectivity needs,” explains Inmarsat Maritime vice president for offshore and fishing Eric Griffin.

“OSVs are coming out of lay-up, some on just short-term contracts of as little as three months. There needs to be flexibility on satellite communications

Inmarsat vice president Eric Griffin feels OSV owners need the bandwidth elasticity of Fleet Xpress as their vessels emerge from lay-up

terms and the ability to upgrade and then scale down the bandwidth.”

Higher bandwidth on both the uplink and downlink between vessels and satellites is encountered when vessels are hired for certain types of offshore work. This could include survey work, servicing drilling rigs, offshore fixed and floating installations, supporting subsea construction and maintenance work and

offshore renewables projects.

Owners tend to request greater bandwidth when energy company personnel and sub-contractors go on vessels during contract work. At such times, owners may need to increase the number of subscriptions, says Mr Griffin, noting: “OSV owners may want to do live video from remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and cameras on board, while additional workers may need access to corporate networks.”

This is in addition to the onboard digital welfare services, such as media, training and regular communications with friends and family, that crew have come to expect.

Furthermore, explains Mr Griffin, “There may be additional monitoring of equipment and the vessel itself, which will need increased bandwidth. But, once the project is over, owners may need to downgrade again to basic levels.”

Inmarsat provides flexibility in OSV connectivity plans, allowing bandwidth increases for as little as seven days, while

Satellite operators monitor Global Xpress beam usage from the London control room

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

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OSV COMMUNICATIONS | 7

accommodating owners who need higher broadband for weeks or months at a time, depending on their contracts and client requirements. “Every subscription has different bandwidth requirements,” Mr Griffin says. “A typical one has a maximum information rate (MIR) of perhaps 2 Mbps downlink and 512 kbps uplink.”

Inmarsat can increase these MIRs to 10 Mbps over the downlink and 5 Mbps uplink if required, through its Fleet Xpress service and high-power terminals. This combines connectivity over Ka-band frequencies of radiocommunications from the Global Xpress (fifth generation) constellation of geostationary satellites and L-band from FleetBroadband that is delivered from Inmarsat’s fourthgeneration constellation.

When charterers go on board vessels, owners can either incorporate them into the onboard broadband or offer secondary subscriptions to these clients.

These are additional to the basic plans that owners have in place and provide another level of flexibility.

NEED FOR DUAL ANTENNA SOLUTION “This allows charterers to have their own connection through the same terminal and hardware on the vessel,” says Mr Griffin.

“This can be added using existing systems to deliver a committed information rate (CIR) of 512 kbps, going up to 4 Mbps up and 2 Mbps down.” Inmarsat can also offer MIRs of up to 8 Mbps on the downlink and 4 Mbps uplink. “There is flexibility in this secondary service with minimum periods of seven days [but] they can be extended for as long as vessel operators and charterers need them.”

To use Fleet Xpress, owners need at least one Ka-band compatible 60-cm or 1-m diameter antenna, plus below-deck equipment, including a modem and network service device (NSD). Cobham and Intellian have agreements with Inmarsat to produce 60-cm and 1-m antennas and Japan Radio Co provides 60-cm Ka-band VSAT. Mr Griffin says owners that want higher throughput and global connectivity should install 1-m antennas.

There may be requirements for a second Fleet Xpress terminal on a vessel, in situations where one terminal

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allowing seamless switching between them, managed currently by the NSD and in the future by Inmarsat’s new maritime edge platform, Fleet Edge.

SMART DEVICES

Snapshot CV: Eric Griffin Eric Griffin has more than 18 years of experience in communications, including seven years with Inmarsat.

He worked for Consolidated Communications for seven years prior to becoming manager of engineering sales at Stratos Global from 2007 to 2011. He joined Inmarsat in 2012 and rose through the ranks in enterprise solutions, energy and then in the maritime division. In January 2018 he became vice president of offshore.

is unable to connect to a satellite; an example would be if it was within the shadow of an offshore structure, such as a production platform, drilling rig or floating production system.

“As vessels spend a lot of time in the shadow of rigs, blockages are unfortunately commonplace. So, we have worked with our manufacturing partners to develop a dual antenna solution that overcomes this issue,” said Mr Griffin.

“The initial roll-out of Fleet Xpress was for the merchant fleet, with a single Ka-band terminal and a FleetBroadband one,” Mr Griffin explains. “But, in the OSV sector, vessels need more availability on VSAT, instead of falling back to L-band.”

In response to these challenges, Inmarsat offers two linked Global Xpress terminals,

Owners also require controls on the connectivity and access of their systems to prevent crew from mis-using broadband or wasting bandwidth. These can be provided by onboard smart devices, such as Navarino Infinity, which Inmarsat offers as part of Fleet Xpress.

“Our service partners have their own smart boxes and value-added services,” says Mr Griffin. These can include file compression, connectivity access management, crew email, cyber security and measures to prevent bandwidth consumption from being wasted by mobile devices which automatically synchronise.

Over a vessel’s wifi, smartphones will start downloading music and video, or synchronise over these connections, which means owners must have something in place to prevent this,” warns Mr Griffin. “Our Infinity device has the ability to control connectivity and there is content application filtering and other services.”

OSV owners can also install Fleet Hotspot wifi and Fleet Media crew welfare services. These applications help optimise bandwidth use for crew communications, internet services and access to the latest media content.

“With Fleet Media, we can provide video-on-demand, with the latest , films, box-sets and pre-recorded news and sports, while downloading content during low levels of bandwidth usage,” Mr Griffin explains. “This is instead of, and preferable to, everyone on a vessel accessing online content, which would not be an optimum use of bandwidth.”

Inmarsat also offers a portfolio of Fleet Secure cyber solutions for enhanced onboard security and Fleet Data for those owners that want to adopt internet-ofthings (IoT) applications.

With Inmarsat Fleet Xpress, OSV owners can attain the optimised and tailored connectivity they need for their fleets, as vessels are brought out of lay-up and contracting conditions improve. ■

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

8 | IOT & DIGITALISATION

Offshore’s digital imperative engaged As laid-up OSVs return to a more promising market in increasing numbers, the need to double-down on digitalisation remains pressing

T

he oil price collapse of 2014 led to global offshore exploration spending falling by more than 60% and, although a recent report from consultant PwC forecasts an investment recovery equivalent to 7% compounded annual growth rate, it will take years to fill the 2014-2016 spending gap. Until new production comes online, producers will seek to drive additional value out of existing plays and vessel operators will remain under pressure to find new efficiencies.

The market dip also brought an inevitable loss in technical skills, as workforces were downsized, in an industry whose offshore support segment is already awaiting a ‘great crew change’ in the next decade as a large proportion of its ageing personnel retires.

According to the PwC study, addressing these challenges demands a “doubling down on digitisation” and the drive to “develop talent for a new era of technology”. Clarksons Research, meanwhile, predicts that digitalisation strategies and the rise of automation will drive a tripling of demand for bandwidth in the energy space between 2015-2025.

Following the launch of Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service in March 2016, the combination of high-speed broadband and L-band using FleetBroadband has been rolled out to 6,000

Digital transformation in oil and gas Connected upstream workers will be 15% more productive than non-connected counterparts by 2025.

Digital initiatives support: 20% reduction in drilling and completion costs.

25% drop in inspection and maintenance costs.

20% lower employee costs.

Autonomous operations cut downtime by 20%.

Source: World Economic Forum**

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

vessels. The service now accounts for around six in 10 new VSAT installations.

It utilises multiple radio frequency bands via redundant teleports and fully owned infrastructure.

Fleet Xpress offers the continuous connectivity critical in offshore and vital to digital enablement. It also supports variable usage over a contract period in line with crew and contractor numbers on board.

As a portion of the offshore support vessel (OSV) market emerges from lay-up, there is strong evidence to suggest vessel owners and operators already recognise that digital solutions provide the most cost-effective means of securing new efficiencies and supporting greater crew connectivity.

IoT-based solutions are already key to the data analytics used to optimise production and reserves, but they are now also becoming part of real-world activities. Drones are being used to inspect offshore platforms to reduce worker exposure to hazardous tasks.

From the vessel point of view, IoT-based solution outputs include predictive maintenance, more interaction with support engineers at remote operations centres, and using decisionmaking software to optimise operations. Potential also exists to introduce digital twins (virtual simulations of floating assets) to improve the efficiency of predictive maintenance and to support autonomous vessel operations.

Fleet Xpress rolled out to 6,000 vessels

Research findings Inmarsat recently interviewed 125 companies in the container, dry bulk, tanker, gas, OSV and fishing sectors in Norway, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Singapore, Japan and China to investigate attitudes and commitments towards IoT-based solutions in their vessel connectivity. This representative sample included 20 OSV operators from across the globe.

One of the most striking findings from this research was that

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the average spend being planned by OSV owners and operators on IoT-based solutions over the coming three years was expected to be US$2.8M – some US$300,000 ahead of the average for all maritime stakeholders.

Regulation is a key driver for IoT-based solution uptake across the maritime and offshore industries. Emissions restrictions are driving owners to monitor fuel consumption using electronic reporting, with 47% of respondents already using IoT-based solutions to monitor fuel use, rising to 100% by 2023.

What the research also makes clear is if merchant ship operators are discouraged by a lack of timeliness in data availability when it comes to successfully optimising IoT-based solutions, their offshore counterparts are even more frustrated.

Asked why their organisations were not able to make best use of data collected from IoT-based solutions, 51% of maritime respondents overall blamed the time lag between collection and availability for use. In the case of OSV operators, however, this was even higher at 56%.

Crewing challenges As noted, it is not only vessels themselves that benefit from greater connectivity. Separate research from Inmarsat, Sailors’ Society and The Royal Holloway University of London* highlights it as increasingly becoming the deciding factor in whether young and talented individuals want to spend their lives at sea, and whether highly qualified seafarers can be retained.

This report goes so far as to address one of the recurring arguments presented by those not wishing to provide internet: that it will disturb operations. Royal Holloway’s research counters that, in the modern world, it is lack of connectivity which is likely to be the more disturbing. When seafarers were not given internet access or had internet access limited, they were less focused on their jobs because they were worrying and this ‘not knowing’ was disturbing their work even more, the research found.

Inmarsat controls its satellite connectivity for IoT from its headquarters in London, UK

As explained elsewhere in this publication, Inmarsat has started rolling out its Fleet Hotspot solution as an over-the-top and automated service for Fleet Xpress. It enables crew members to pay via card or payment apps with minimal interaction from the owner and/or operator for communications.

This is one reason Inmarsat is convinced that companies in the OSV sector will be central to the seaborne transition to the digital technologies that simplify, automate and optimise operations. For example, Inmarsat expects on-demand, realtime push and pull information using mobile apps and wearable technology to be part of day-to-day operations offshore and anticipates consequent changes in working practices to be adopted by support vessel operators. Access to the right information at the right time will lead to proactive decisionmaking, greater productivity and reduced costs.

A white paper from the World Economic Forum (WEF)** identified four digital themes in the oil and gas industry change, which suggests that wearable technology and virtual training methods will make the connected upstream worker 15% more productive than non-connected counterparts by 2025.

The same study goes on to suggest the rewards for the offshore sector could be particularly abundant in the new era of automation. Technologies that include robots, drones and remote operations have the potential to transform how oil and gas companies operate. WEF suggests that digital initiatives can support a 20% reduction in drilling and completion costs, a 25% reduction in inspection and maintenance costs, and 20% lower employee costs across all areas. Autonomous operations could also help to cut downtime by 20%. ■

Overall, the connectivity used in the offshore sector for shore access, data analytics, operations and by crew is already reckoned to consume bandwidth at rates over four times that of maritime counterparts, according to Euroconsult. The same source suggests that usage will grow to as much as 10 times by 2025.

* Navigating Everyday Connectivities At Sea – 2018. Published by Inmarsat, Royal Holloway and Sailors’ Society ** Digital Transformation Initiative Oil and Gas Industry – World Economic Forum/Accenture 2017

Develop talent for a new era of technology”

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Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

10 | FLEET XPRESS

Hybrid VSAT delivers fast, reliable connectivity Fleet Xpress global high-speed broadband provides OSV owners with the flexibility underpinning enhanced vessel management efficiency and crew welfare

Inmarsat introduced a fourth I-5 satellite for Global Xpress

Each Inmarsat-5 satellite operates with a combination of spot beams that enable Inmarsat to deliver higher speeds through more compact terminals and steerable beams, which enable controllers to direct additional capacity to areas of high demand. These satellites connect to Inmarsat’s network of ground stations that

nmarsat’s planned investment in a sixth generation of communications satellites is testament to the success of its Fleet Xpress hybrid VSAT service. Fleet Xpress combines the fast connectivity and high bandwidths of Ka-band on the Global Xpress network with the reliable and dedicated communications of FleetBroadband L-band.

More than 6,000 vessels had Fleet Xpress installed since its commercial launch in 2016, as vessel owners migrated their assets from FleetBroadband or Ku-band VSAT. Around 20% of Fleet

announced plans in 2018 to engineer, launch and commission two sixthgeneration geostationary satellites after 2020. These will be the first to have both Ka-band and L-band payloads. These two satellites will provide significant increases in capacity to deliver Fleet Xpress to all maritime industries, but especially to offshore industries where bandwidth demand has grown strongly.

The Global Xpress platform is delivered to maritime industries over the Inmarsat-5 satellites, of which four are in operation and a fifth is scheduled to be added this

access terrestrial networks.

OSV owners can utilise Fleet Xpress for their operational communications, data transmission and crew welfare requirements. They can also use Fleet Xpress to cater for heightened broadband requirements when clients and subcontractors are on board. Flexible packages enable bandwidth to be increased when vessels are at sea with a full complement of crew and contractors during offshore projects, and then reduced when these jobs are completed.

Inmarsat Maritime president Ronald Spithout believes future demand will stem from the connectivity required for internetof-things (IoT) technology. He thinks vessel owners, operators and managers will increasingly adopt IoT, new safety communications, cyber security and crew welfare services this year.

The maritime industry’s digital leaders are already using high-speed broadband to achieve efficiency, safety and environmental gains across vessel operations, lowering fuel consumption and improving crew welfare. Mr Spithout expects key enablers will come to the OSV sector in 2019, delivering further industrywide benefits through Fleet Xpress, in the form of fuel savings and improvements in operational efficiency.

Xpress installations in 2018 were from new customers, demonstrating that the benefits are being felt across the industry.

In anticipation of a steep rise in the number of users of Fleet Xpress, Inmarsat

year. FleetBroadband is delivered over four Inmarsat-4 satellites. All of Inmarsat’s satellites are in geostationary orbit around the Equator, delivering ship connectivity and voice communications worldwide.

Inmarsat lists six main benefits to vessel owners investing in Fleet Xpress: • Continuous connectivity because of the back-up of FleetBroadband.

• Guaranteed performance from committed

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Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

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FLEET XPRESS | 11

data rates that are backed up by service-level agreements.

• Costs can be controlled through flexible subscription packages.

• Fleet Xpress has cyber resilience to ensure vessels are protected from online threats.

• Fleet Xpress is a fully managed service with standardised plugand-play, 24/7, 365-day management and is monitored and supported globally by teams of engineers and connectivity experts.

• Fleet Xpress enables business applications that can be developed by third parties and delivered to vessels over the VSAT. Cyber security can be enhanced with the Fleet Secure portfolio, introduced on 1 January 2019, including Fleet Secure Unified Threat Management, Fleet Secure Endpoint and Fleet Secure Cyber Awareness, designed to detect and protect vessel networks, isolate cyber attacks and increase crew cyber awareness.

Inmarsat near-term aims

Onboard hardware To access these benefits, vessels will have at least one, and sometimes two, Global Xpress antennas of 60 cm or 1 m diameter from reliable suppliers such as Cobham Satcom, Intellian and Japan Radio Co. There is also the option of high-power antennas from Intellian and Cobham that can increase throughput significantly.

There will also be a FleetBroadband 500 terminal and below-deck modem, driven by iDirect Velocity technology.

These terminals are pre-commissioned to ensure swift and easy installation and servicing. They have been extensively tested to ensure they will continue to operate in harsh maritime environments and in extremes of temperature and sea conditions.

NSD and Fleet Edge High data speeds are currently delivered by an Inmarsat-managed service that is controlled by a network service device (NSD). This ensures terminals can switch between satellites and beams. There is a tracking system that acquires the

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Increase share of maritime VSAT market over 25% Introduce Crew Xpress into global maritime markets Launch value-added services over Fleet Edge platform Add more certified application providers on Fleet Data

new satellite as a vessel moves into its coverage footprint. This is performed seamlessly and without intervention from the crew.

If there is degradation of the Ka-band radio frequencies, then the NSD will automatically switch temporarily to the FleetBroadband service without any break in service. The NSD will return the vessel to Ka-band once this signal returns.

Fleet Edge, developed specifically for Fleet Xpress will be the enabler for new services and applications that will help power the digitalisation of the maritime industry.

Developed over the last year by Inmarsat’s product group, Fleet Edge is an evolved and enhanced solution to the NSD. It has been in beta-test on several different vessel types since the beginning

Inmarsat-5 satellites provide Global Xpress Ka-band coverage in Fleet Xpress

of this year and will be commercially launched in Q3 2019. The new features of Fleet Edge will include: • Seamless delivery of new Inmarsat features and remote upgrading of Fleet Edge software • A rich set of standardised assurance data accessed through shore-side APIs • Automatic set up and configuration of Fleet Edge • A fully secured device with built-in hardened security • Integration with value-added reseller smart boxes • Potential for application hosting capabilities launched in future releases.

Growth in applications and certified application providers Aside from application hosting capabilities on Fleet Edge, Inmarsat is providing dedicated bandwidth to application providers across both its L-band and Ka-band networks.

Examples include engine management

by Kongsberg (formerly Rolls-Royce Marine) on Fleet Xpress allowing an engine manufacturer to retrieve higher volumes of data when issues are identified via its own connection to the vessel.

Another recent example on Inmarsat’s L-band network, FleetBroadband, is the development of a dedicated bandwidth ECDIS chart provider SRH Marine SAIT that allows shipowners to update electronic navigational charts seamlessly and securely, on demand and without interrupting their primary bandwidth service.

Inmarsat’s new IoT platform Fleet Data, is also built purposely to allow third-party application providers to access collected data via a dedicated API. In April this year, maritime and software analytics provider NAPA became the first certified application provider for Fleet Data. ■

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

12 | DRONES

UAVs progress on remote asset inspection Inmarsat demonstrates how its ‘UAV Popup lab’ is helping commercial drone companies develop remote inspection services to support offshore assets

Classification societies use drones for remote inspection of offshore structures (source: ABS)

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The commercial UAV market will grow exponentially in the next five to 10 years”

he ability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate in remote spaces has seen class societies making good use of the technology in close-up ship inspections.

Beyond the line of sight (BLOS), satellite connectivity is enabling applications, such as predictive maintenance, offshore.

These applications are a key objective for Inmarsat as it unveils its UAV Pop-up lab to work with commercial drone companies in demonstrating the role of L-band connectivity in delivering real-time UAV control for long-range missions worldwide.

Formally launched in February, the UAV Pop-up lab sees Inmarsat providing satellite connectivity and live mission testing to a partnership with terminal hardware provider Cobham Satcom and technology accelerator Starburst, alongside seven commercial drone companies.

“The UAV Pop-up lab programme is a grassroots innovation programme that seeks to explore the full scope of benefits available using satellite communication in the commercial UAV

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

market,” says Inmarsat product group digital incubation lead Jordan Picard.

Applications include search and rescue, ground-mapping, forest fire-fighting and vaccine drops. Among them are pilot initiatives for heavy infrastructure inspection offshore UK on behalf of Total, BP and Siemens Gamesa with UK-based UAV partners Intrepid Minds and FlyLogix.

According to PwC* research, the UAV industry in the UK alone will be generating £42Bn (US$55Bn) in incremental gross domestic product by 2030 – just a small fraction of the anticipated global market opportunity.

Inmarsat and its partners believe the use of UAVs will provide a decisive advantage for those operating in remote parts of the globe that will be immediately recognisable. Within the Pop-up lab initiative, UAVs use Cobham’s lightweight but resilient Aviator 200 terminal to communicate in BLOS missions via Inmarsat’s global network, where L-band is especially robust for remote area operations.

According to Cobham regional sales director

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DRONES | 13

Andrew Legg, “While many UAVs will rely on terrestrial-based connectivity solutions, they often operate beyond line of sight of point-topoint digital data links and out of coverage of ground networks. Many of these airframes are compromised by connectivity shortcomings and the addition of a high-reliability, light-footprint satellite communications solution enables a broader theatre of operation.”

Many countries have yet to introduce legal frameworks to regulate UAV flight operations and manufacturing, meaning that most UAV flights today must be within radio line of sight or require special exemptions. However, market forces are in play that suggest change is inevitable, says Starburst Accelerator chief executive Francois Chopard.

“The UAV market is very

Lloyd’s Register recently offered new guidance notes on UAV inspections based on a pilot flare tip and boom inspection for an offshore installation in Liverpool Bay, and a test-and-learn project on a Maersk Drilling rig. LR is also working with Oil Spill Response Ltd’s drone-based inspection service provider Sky-Futures to trial a surveillance and reconnaissance application.

Fly-by inspections negate the risk of humans scaling structures, while Mr Picard also points out that drones are faster to mobilise than field inspectors and do not need accommodation.

On another level, floating rigs need to be taken out of operation for essential maintenance checks every five years. Getting the schedule wrong can involve losing earnings of US$300,000-400,000

exciting due to the bottomper day for perhaps for up to up emergence of start-ups three weeks. Mr Picard says UAV industry in the focused on making UAVs the tests carried out to date UK alone will be economically accessible to are showing the way routine generating users outside of the military remote inspections allow US$55Bn by 2030 domain,” he says. “The UAV actionable decisions to be Pop-up lab is a fantastic way made on a predictive basis so to work with these start-ups to that repairs can be planned at develop propositions that will bring the budgeting stage. “This type of this market to maturity as regulatory budgetary control is a key reason why, certainty improves.” despite higher upfront investment, UAVs will Mr Picard expresses similar confidence. “Even cost less than traditional manual inspection.” at this early stage, our expectation is that the Mr Picard adds that the UAVs are delivering commercial UAV market will grow exponentially high-quality data for specialist analysis in realin the next five to 10 years, with satellite playing time and that inspections can be reviewed a crucial role in remote areas,” he says. “This by competent personnel, yielding integrity aligns with Inmarsat’s role as the leading provider assessments for areas of concern, while of global, resilient satellite communications for captured images can be subjected to closer mobile assets. It also links nicely to the emerging inspection and monitoring degradation rates. digital economy of tomorrow.”

“In a nutshell, we are learning that UAVs The offshore sector is just beginning deliver real value when it comes to obtaining to shake off a five-year dip in fortunes and critical data in hard-to-reach places where put assets back to work, and is once more terrestrial networks are spotty,” Mr Picard says. prioritising data analytics and diagnostics “This can mean the difference between life and technology to optimise performance, condition death for emergency response, and of course monitoring and remote diagnostics of subsea there is a straightforward safety gain when assets. Subsea, remotely operated and inspectors are not exposed to high-risk activities.” autonomous vehicles have provided critical However, he thinks UAVs should also gains through standardising operations and be recognised for the way they can assist centralising project management, with video organisations to reduce costs. “UAVs can help streaming providing operators on the surface companies with heavy operational footprints in with visuals to complete these projects. remote areas to save millions,” he says. “That is The same safety benefits apply in the case of airborne drones, where remote inspection techniques are already covered in International Association of Classification Societies’ unified requirements, which took effect in January 2019.

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where the global satellite communications solution using L-band becomes a massive enabler.” ■ *https://www.pwc.co.uk/intelligent-digital/drones/ Drones-impact-on-the-UK-economy-FINAL.pdf

Remote inspection guidance delivered by class ABS has introduced Guidance Notes on the Use of Remote Inspection Technologies to provide information on correctly using unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and robotic crawlers for inspections.

These technologies are being developed, tested and introduced for multiple types of ship inspections by classification societies and surveyors. ABS’s latest guidance note builds on its previously published Guidance Notes on Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Classification societies are developing methods of using remote inspection technologies (RITs) for surveys and inspections by fitting digital technology and high definition cameras to remotely controlled devices.

By using RITs, class can collect information, determine trends and the condition of vessel sections in a safe and effective way. Drones can be used to inspect ship hulls underwater using robotic crawlers, and inside tanks and other hull cavities where it would be dangerous for surveyors to go.

However, RIT use needs to be managed and surveyors controlling them need training and guidance on where to pilot them. ABS developed its guidance through knowledge gained during extensive marine and offshore trials and testing.

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

14 | MISSION SUPPORT

Fleet Xpress delivers live video from 300 m below the Indian Ocean New connectivity is supporting an ambitious marine science project to broadcast live video from the Indian Ocean

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nmarsat is providing Ka-band communications from its Global Xpress (GX) network and its fifth-generation constellation of satellites to enable live streaming of video from a major marine biodiversity project in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The project involves a three-year expedition by the Nekton Deep Ocean Research Institute to explore the Indian Ocean’s biological fauna using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Images from these vehicles will be streamed in real time from the mother ship, Ocean Zephyr, owned by A1 Offshore, to broadcasters worldwide.

This project is breaking fresh ground in communications, with the first use of new subsea technologies from Teledyne Marine for optical transmissions. These were developed to enable multiple submersibles to transmit images to the Ocean Zephyr as they descend into previously unexplored ocean up to 1,000m deep.

These images are then broadcast, using Inmarsat’s highspeed Fleet Xpress service, to media outlets around the world and featured in a series of live programmes produced by Sky News and Sky Atlantic as part of Sky Ocean Rescue. Fleet Xpress combines Ka-band via the GX constellation with L-band offered by FleetBroadband, the latter providing back-up communications over Inmarsat’s fourth generation of satellites.

Cobham Satcom supplied the high-power Sailor 100 GX antenna on board Ocean Zephyr for two-way Ka-band communications over GX. Inmarsat Maritime vice president for offshore energy and fishing Eric Griffin says this project is ground-breaking, as Ocean Zephyr has two GX antennas on board that are running simultaneously. “This is unique, as the vessel is running high bandwidth to get information back to broadcasters,” he explains.

The other GX antenna is used for operational communications and crew welfare services.

“Live video streaming will be happening more in the offshore and ocean surveying sectors, with more live video broadcast to shore from vessels,” says Mr Griffin.

Nekton is deploying a set of new research, sampling, survey and video technologies on the ROVs and vessel. These include artificial intelligence programmes, developed by Nekton and the University of Oxford, to accelerate analysis and publication of information.

Data from these missions will be available on Ocean Tool for Public Understanding and Science (Octopus), the world’s first

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

open-sourced, global ocean data portal. This mission is focused on researching the ocean’s biodiverse bathyal zone, which is at a depth of 200 m to 3,000 m.

At least 50 descents are planned during the first expedition, which is centred within the Seychelles’ vast 1.37M km² ocean territory. Nekton is researching the human impact on the biodiversity of the Indian Ocean; the project is expected to discover new species and identify the impact of climate change, says Nekton principal scientist at the University of Oxford, Lucy Woodall.

“The biological communities we are researching are critical for many reasons, from climate stability to food security, from carbon cycling to the air we breathe,” she explains. “Our multi-disciplinary research investigates biological systems and their physical and chemical environment, enabling us to identify key parameters and patterns of ocean change.”

Dr Woodall anticipates that information from this project will have huge significance to biological sciences: “We expect to discover dozens of species new to science that could be anything from corals, algae or sponges to larger, more charismatic animals like dog-sharks.”

Exploration in the Seychelles will continue until mid-May, with live video streamed to broadcasters and the Octopus portal via Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress satellite communications service. ■

Scientists prepare the Nekton deep ocean research ROV in the Indian Ocean (source: Inmarsat)

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ENABLERS | 15

Inmarsat digital enablers are key for IoT uptake Inmarsat has developed a series of enablement tools that support the role of satellite services in driving digital transformation in the OSV market

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ven the most fervent advocate of digitalisation will be aware that ‘ease of use’ beats ‘high concept’ every time when it comes to uptake. Cost, of course, is a determining factor, but an owner considering internet-of-things (IoT)-based vessel and fleet management technology may quickly go cold on a project if the installation, connectivity or operation becomes a challenge, rather than an opportunity.

Inmarsat has therefore been prioritising the enablement of Fleet Xpress, so that all constituencies in the shipping and offshore market can secure the operational efficiency and crew connectivity benefits available via highspeed broadband connectivity, backed up by continuous L-band.

The latest example of this enablement strategy is the fully managed crew wifi portal Crew Xpress, brought to market in March 2019. The new service package serves crew demand for connectivity, but also harnesses that demand to encourage a key owner and operator group to engage with higher-speed broadband services.

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“A significant part of our customer base has migrated to full high-speed Fleet Xpress services, but we also recognise crew wellbeing as a separate connectivity imperative,” says Inmarsat Maritime president Ronald Spithout.

“Certain owners and operators seek fully managed wifi connectivity that crew can use on a self-service basis, but do not yet have the business data needs that require, for example, the sensor-driven equipment maintenance or IoT-based route planning enabled by Ka-band,” he explains. “Crew Xpress allows them to offer a managed, high-speed crew internet solution while staying on an allowance plan that could migrate at any time to fullscale Fleet Xpress.”

Crew Xpress includes a separate, managed wifi Fleet Hotspot, a leased 60-cm diameter Fleet Xpress antenna and a 6 GB business allowance plan. With usage payable either through credits or by top-up payments by crew, the package can also yield a revenue stream for owners and operators of OSVs. Owners with greater immediate demand for more data-hungry business connectivity packages are also now emerging. Inmarsat’s Fleet Data service, which was also introduced in Q1 2019, supports application-based vessel management efficiencies.

Fleet Data was developed in partnership with Danelec Marine for merchant shipping and the OSV market.

It is enabled by a vessel remote server (VRS) that pre-processes ship sensor data and uploads it to a secure, cloudbased platform with a dashboard and an application program interface (API).

Vessel managers can access and analyse

Ronald Spithout: “Crew Xpress allows managers to offer a managed, highspeed crew internet solution”

the data they need through the API to enhance vessel safety and efficiency, or the fleet’s environmental footprint. They can also make this data available to third-party applications that monitor fuel efficiency or hull performance.

Mr Spithout describes Fleet Data as “the first and only service to enable the maritime IoT through a combination of existing shipboard data infrastructure and dedicated high-speed bandwidth”.

Inmarsat states that 56% of OSV owners consider the delay between data capture at sea and data availability on land as the principal obstacle to committing to IoT-based solutions. Fleet Data will overcome this concern. Currently available on Fleet Xpress, Fleet Data will eventually be rolled out across Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband service by the end of 2019, making it immediately accessible for over 45,000 vessels.

Mr Spithout notes that Inmarsat’s Fleet Secure Unified Threat Management backbone for cyber security represents a third pillar of its enablement strategy for IoT-based solutions. The service protects Fleet Xpress, FleetBroadband and Fleet One services against cyber attacks by identifying external attacks or malware introduced accidentally or otherwise to the vessel’s local area network. ■

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

16 | CONNECTIVITY MATTERS

Flexibility is key for tackling crewing challenges OSV owners will need flexible broadband communications to help recruit and retain seafarers as they reactivate vessels

Martin Gaard Christiansen (V Group): OSV owners need to optimise vessel performance and reduce running costs

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ver the last five years, offshore support vessel (OSV) owners have had to adapt their businesses to a prolonged downturn. Now that demand is steadily returning and vessels are being reactivated from lay-up, owners will again need to adapt in a bid to recruit seafarers from other shipping sectors.

As the sector returns to growth, competition from other OSV operators for crew will be rife. For an increasing number of seafarers, online connectivity has become an essential requirement in their employment choices.

Therefore, OSV owners and managers hoping to secure the best crew will need to provide advanced onboard communications and access to online applications.

This situation was highlighted by V.Group chief commercial officer Martin Gaard Christiansen at Riviera Maritime Media’s Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference earlier this year. Mr Christiansen said that OSV owners and managers need to focus on the latest crewing issues, including rising demand for better connectivity, maintaining onboard safety and adopting more digital applications.

Mr Christiansen believes owners need to “respond to market changes, optimise vessel performance and reduce running costs” to remain competitive. To achieve this, owners need well-trained and experienced crew that can operate vessels effectively and competitively.

He believes that the main challenges faced by vessel owners and managers in the current climate include maintaining high levels of crew welfare, improving vessel connectivity and adopting more ship intelligence and data analytics.

Thome Ship Management chief marine human resources officer Hanus Mikkelsen also stresses the importance of vessel connectivity for seafarer wellbeing. He notes that the availability of internet-based communications, social media and live messaging services could be a factor in recruiting and retaining crew.

Crew recruitment and retention is not only a

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

challenge for OSV owners reactivating vessels; it is also faced by owners with an employed fleet.

At the Offshore Support Journal Conference, Seacor Marine Holdings chief executive John Gellert highlighted that the industry is facing an ageing workforce. He believes communications technology will play a key role in replenishing that workforce: “Bandwidth needs to be enough and we need flexibility,” he said.

Different levels of broadband may be required on OSVs depending on their purpose; for example, energy company personnel may require a particular level of communications or connectivity for third parties. These users may need secure communications streams that are segregated from the broadband used by the rest of the vessel.

In reaction to these challenges, Inmarsat has adapted its services to the current and future connectivity requirements in the OSV sector. It has introduced more flexibility on Fleet Xpress connectivity and the ability to change bandwidth availability over contract periods.

“We can provide flexible plans that allow owners to increase the bandwidth depending on the number of people on board vessels,” said Inmarsat Maritime vice president for offshore energy Eric Griffin. “There is flexibility in the contracts and the ability to change bandwidth when there are additional crew and contractors on board.”

Mr Griffin explained that separate communications lines can be provided to clients and subcontractors on OSVs and bandwidth can be allocated to the transmission of operational data. “Additional workers may want access to corporate networks and bandwidth may be needed for operations monitoring,” he said.

Fleet Xpress allows OSV owners to adapt their vessel communications, using this flexibility to improve welfare services for the retention of seafarers, to attract the best crew, and to increase capabilities when onboard personnel levels rise. ■

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ANALYSIS | 17

FLEET XPRESS BENEFITS FULLY MANAGED SERVICE 24/7, 365-day management

DEMAND FOR IOT

US$2.8M AVERAGE OSV OPERATOR SPEND ON IOT SOLUTIONS OVER 3 YEARS

100%

CONTROLLED COSTS Flexible subscription packages

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE

Value-added services, thirdparty platform

Committed data rates, service-level

CYBER RESILIENCE

SUMMARY OF BENEFITS

Cyber security, Fleet Secure

OWNERS SURVEYED - WILL USE IOT FOR FUEL MONITORING BY 2023

agreements.

56%

CONTINUOUS CONNECTIVITY

OPERATORS SAY GETTING DATA OFF THE SHIP IN REAL TIME IS BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO IOT ADOPTION

Ka-band plus L-band back-up

GLOBAL XPRESS SATELLITE NETWORK

CONNECTIVITY AT SEA

I-5 F1 covers most seas around Europe and Africa, the Indian Ocean and much of east Asia and western Australia.

MORE THAN JUST COMMUNICATIONS

I-5 F2 provides coverage from the east Pacific to Africa, covering all the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean.

Optimise operations Share access

I-5 F3 delivers Ka-band across all of the Pacific Ocean, from Singapore and China to California and Alaska.

I-5 F4 overlaps F1 and F3 to provide coverage over the Indian Ocean, Oceania and the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.

Crew welfare Data insight

OPERATIONAL NEEDS OF OFFSHORE VESSELS High-speed connections – from and to vessel

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Continuous connectivity – resilient, redundant networks and ground stations

Guaranteed performance – committed information rates, dual-antenna systems

Extended flexibility – allowing vessels to upgrade and downgrade

Digital enabler – sensors to track vessels and optimise operations

Digital Transformation Offshore 2019

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