City of Sunderland Home to ROAM

ROAM is a seamless interface between land and sea providing solutions for a range of critical offshore wind farm problems and challenges. As its full name suggests, its uniqueness is on the use of immediate digital information - Real-time Operational Asset Management.

Digital century
When Green Marine Solutions (GMS) saw the market need to develop ROAM, it came to Sunderland, a community with a strong maritime history and an equally impressive reputation for IT excellence at the Sunderland Software Centre.

Backed by Government innovation funding, the high-specification centre is supported by Sunderland City Council which recognises GMS’ unique position as both an experienced renewable industry operator and a software developer.

"Merging the two disciplines was an obvious decision," explains GMS Operations Director, Richard Pargeter. "We are hitting two sweet spots at the same time."

"We share a software vision with Sunderland and wanted to work with a hub of IP specialists known for their excellence.

Real-time actions
"The Sunderland team also shares our philosophy of seeking continuous improvement based on trials, experience, feedback and further refinement." The result is a system that not only tracks, traces and monitors valuable assets, but can also be used on practical turnkey solution with real-time implications that can only be managed properly using real-time data.

"For example, putting contingency plans into action can depend on a detailed understanding of conditions far offshore. We see this as a major breakthrough with the potential to prevent costly and damaging knock-on effects," adds Pargeter.

Team members and vessels are also supported by ROAM’s task management system, permits to work and other key project documentation. These can be issued to personnel working offshore through GMS’ global communication system.

Hardware developments
The hardware needed to report real-time information has also been developed nearby in the North East. From a pragmatic perspective, Sunderland also has no tidal restrictions, which makes the port ideal for transfer vessel activity that can be important in responding quickly to incidents in the North Sea. ROAM is also designed to play a key role in search and rescue.