The 4C Crow's Nest

While the offshore wind industry has an enviable safety record, unfortunately, incidents do happen. Early access to treatment from experienced and qualified medical professionals can save lives and promote better recovery. It can also save money by keeping people working and avoiding unnecessary early returns to shore. But you can't call for a paramedic offshore can you?

Well, perhaps you can. In this episode, we spoke with Paramedic Mike Campey who is employed by Turner Iceni, a specialist supplier of O&M wind turbine services (onshore and offshore), including the provision of technicians to the wind industry.  The company also owns and operates a fleet of 11 crew transfer vessels.

Mike has MCA STCW and GWO qualifications so works as part of the CTV crew but is primarily onboard as a Paramedic. As part of the vessel crew, Mike doesn't take up a technical place on the vessel. But he is on hand to provide critical, and potentially life-saving support if required.

Listen to find out more about Mike's journey to being a paramedic and what he brings to the project team.

Notes

If you are confused about what a SWATH vessel is, then you have come to the right place. John Kecsmar from Ad Hoc Marine Designs joined us in 4C Crow's Nest and explained very eloquently what is meant by 'SWATH', that is to say, 'Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull. John is a naval architect with many years of industry experience and is well-known for his expertise in SWATH designs.

John talked about how the SWATH design was developed and has since proven itself in the offshore wind market, achieving safe transfers in high seas. He also explained other advantages of the configuration as well as debunking some of the myths surrounding the vessels.

Given their track record in offshore wind, it is perhaps surprising that the number of SWATH vessels working in the sector remains relatively low. Currently, there are 21 CTVs and 1 SOV in operation. But two more SWATH SOVs are underway. The two WindKeeper vessels in build at the Cemre yard in Turkey for GC Rieber Shipping are a SWATH design.

Every day from ports around the world, hundreds of CTVs set sail to turbine and substation locations transferring technicians and equipment. The crew on the vessel is an essential part of ensuring that offshore wind projects are maintained efficiently and safely.

So if you have ever wondered what goes on during a typical day on a CTV, listen to our latest podcast episode. We were joined by Nikky Williams, who is a Master for vessel operator Tidal Transit. Nikky joined the Crow's Nest from onboard CTV Kitty Petra while the vessel was alongside in Liverpool undergoing maintenance work, prior to transiting to Grimsby on the east coast. 

Nikky discussed what it is like to be part of a CTV crew. How the days start, the transfer process, and what happens when they are not busy transferring technicians to turbines? It is definitely a very busy and varied job with no two days being the same. 

If you are interested in becoming a mariner, Nikky also described the process of qualification. It's not easy, as both technical qualifications are needed as well as sea time, but brings fantastic career opportunities.

Introducing Seacat Columbia

After a break of 110 days, Seawork is back. One of the highlights of the show, is aways the vessels on the pontoons. This year was no exception with the arrival of one of the most radical reconfigurations of a CTV ever seen - Seacat Columbia.

Seacat Columbia moves away from the commonly used catamaran configuration, to a sleek mono-hull with out-rigger for stability. The vessel is powered by water jets, and is set up to be super optimised providing high performance but without the fuel burn.

The vessel was designed by Chartwell Marine, with BARTechnology, and built by Diverse Marine. She is owned and operated by Seacat Services. For this episode, we were joined by the team which brought Columbia to Southampton for the show.

Many thanks to:

Offshore wind is part of the solution to provide renewable, low-carbon energy for the world. But there is much still to be done to reduce the carbon footprint of installing capacity offshore. 

One Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) operator which is not only investing in highly efficient vessels but also investing in the decarbonising of its onshore operations, is Seacat Services. Ian Baylis, founder of the company, visited 4C's Crow Nest to talk about what drives the business mission to decarbonise its operations, and the actions that have already been taken, including:

• Purchasing electric vans for business use
• Electric bikes for staff to use for short trips
• Sustainable work wear
• Eco-friendly cleaning materials
• Investment in innovative vessels
• Solar panels fitted to office roof

Ian talked about how thinking outside the box and questioning actions, are all part of the never-ending quest to improve carbon management.  'Going Green' is not about cost-saving, but planet-saving.

For more information:

If you can’t measure it, how can you manage it?

Chris Huxley-Reynard, Managing Director of Reygar Ltd, discussed how Vessel Motion Monitoring Systems (VMMS) work, and how they can also assist with decarbonisation strategies in the maritime sector.

In the quest for efficient and safe vessel operations, understanding vessel performance is essential. Real-time data from VMMS provides vessel operators and their clients with the information needed to maximise the performance of the vessel while maintaining the highest level of efficiency and health and safety for technicians and crew.

A VMMS constantly logs a broad range of performance indications from the nuts and bolts of the vessel, e.g. engine hours and temperatures, as well as other data including the vertical, horizontal and lateral accelerations which affect the well-being of the people on board. Also logged are operational statistics such as the number of transfers.

Responding and adapting to regulation and market changes, while operating in a dynamic environment is a challenge for any business. Fortunately, workboat operators and other maritime stakeholders have the Workboat Association (WA) for help.

Kerrie Foster, CEO of the WA, talked to us about how the organisation works with members, regulators, and other relevant groups to deal with the challenges they are facing such as workboat codes, decarbonisation, and the fallout from Brexit.

Despite limited development to date, the Irish Government has ambitious offshore wind targets. currently 5GW installed by 2030. To achieve this, 1 GW would need to be installed by 2025. This target will be creating opportunities for the supply chain but regulation needs to be in place to allow development to go forward. One Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) operator aiming to benefit from this is Farra Marine, a new entrant to the market.

In this episode, we spoke to Farra Marine’s CEO, Martin Rice about his business ambitions for the growth of his fleet and the development of offshore wind in Ireland as well as some of the issues holding up progress. The day before Martin had reached a major milestone in his business as Farra’s first vessel, Farra Orla, had arrived in Arklow, Ireland. Farra has a further five vessels under construction and due for delivery by the end of 2022.

The race is on across the world to decarbonise shipping operations which currently account for 3% of global carbon emissions. It’s a massive task for all vessel owners and operators. In this episode of the The Crow’s Nest, we talked to Rob Osborne, Innovation Engineer at Bibby Marine, as he has the task of decarbonising Bibby's fleet.

Rob provided insight into what the company is doing to achieve this goal, and what motivated the company to start this process. Rob also gave an update on the WaveMaster Zero C Project which has been analysing alternative vessel fuels for Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) and similar sized vessels. 

Service vessel operators are constantly looking for innovative ways to increase turbine accessibility. Walk to Work (W2W) systems are seen as the optimum means of transferring personnel to turbines as they are safe and reliable, allowing access in higher wave conditions.  While SOVs have a W2W system as standard, the systems are not usually suited to CTVs. But one operator, MHO-O&Co has achieved this goal.

In this episode, I was joined in the Crow’s Nest by Mik Henriksen, CEO and founder of MH-O&Co, and operator of a unique fleet of CTVs. Mik’s vessels are substantially larger than average, and some also feature a Zbridge W2W system. Mik spoke about how the design for the vessels came about, and it was adapted to enable the installation of the Zbridge transfer system onboard.

This episode was recorded before the arrival of MHO Apollo and MHO Asgard in Esbjerg after their epic voyage from the AFAI ship yard in China.

Finding alternative means of powering vessels is a key part of offshore wind’s strategy to decarbonise its supply chain. Many service vessels use hundreds of litres of fuel every day, so clearly there is an opportunity for improvement. But can fully electric vessels deliver the performance required, and what needs to change to achieve this?

In this episode, we hear from Leo Hambro, CEO and co-founder of Tidal Transit, and a champion of the electrification of CTV's. Tidal Transit has ambitions to bring the first fully electric CTV to the market. We discuss some of the challenges to bringing battery power to service vessels, as well how Leo got started in offshore wind.

About The 4C Crow’s Nest

The 4C Crow's Nest gives the best view of the service vessel market. 4C Offshore is an industry leader, that provides insight and analysis of global offshore wind project development, and ongoing support during operations and maintenance.

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Our analysis shows that the top ten CTV operators are taking 65-75% of demand, so it could seem that it’s not a good time for anyone with ambitions to build a fleet.

However, there are new businesses out there making a big impact on offshore wind support services.

In our very first episode of The Crow’s Nest, we talk to Tom Nevin, CEO and co-founder of HST Marine.

In three years, HST has brought four Damen FCS 2710's into operation, acquired and upgraded two existing vessels and has just launched HST Ella from Diverse Marine shipyard (this episode was recorded just before the launch of Ella) - but it doesn't stop there. HST Frances is now in build and two more vessels are on the way. Tom talks about his experiences in being a new operator in the field.

About The 4C Crow’s Nest

The 4C Crow's Nest gives the best view of the service vessel market. 4C Offshore is an industry leader, that provides insight and analysis of global offshore wind project development, and ongoing support during operations and maintenance.

Links