Bibby Marine Services Moves to Optimize Walk-to-Work Operations

Accurate, reliable, real-time wave data is relevant to all stakeholders in wind-offshore operations. For Bibby Marine Services, Miros WaveFinder software supports operations in real time and provides information vital to vessel operational limits.

Bibby WaveMaster 1 is a walk-to-work service operation vessel (SOV) that makes use of a motion-compensated gangway to transfer crew to and from assets. When using the gangway from Bibby WaveMaster 1 and making connections to an asset, a significant wave height limit is enforced, usually by the charterer.

Ensuring that personnel transfer safely and efficiently is paramount in such operations, and traditional methods involving the visual assessment of wave conditions can prove inaccurate. “We have carried out comparative studies and found poor correlation between the visually reported wave height and that measured by reference equipment,” explains Gijs Hulscher, Managing Director of BMO Offshore. Bibby Marine Services were keen to drive operational performance by working closer to their limits, whilst simultaneously securing the safety of the crew.

The solution is digital

The Miros WaveFinder delivers accurate, reliable, real-time wave data to all relevant stakeholders in an operation. For Bibby Marine Services, WaveFinder feeds into BMO’s data management system, facilitating the monitoring of operational limits.

WaveFinder not only supports operations in real time, but with detailed project reports delivered to the Cloud, stakeholders based onshore also gain full access to the relevant information. Bibby found the system easy to install and were able to start gathering data immediately.

“We connected the Miros WaveFinder and the data began to feed through right away,” said Rob Osborne, Support & Innovation Engineer at Bibby Marine Services. In addition, the ability to analyze historical operational data provides the potential for technical and operational improvements in subsequent missions. “As technology progresses, it provides a new tool to seamanship. It facilitates improvements upon what sea professionals already do,” Hulscher adds.

Osborne sums up: “We are creating a transparent culture around what our vessels can achieve. This enables us to answer questions about our operational limits and abilities, replacing assumptions and guesswork with data and facts.”