Hydraulics, mechanical or electrical: offshore engineering projects demand specialised equipment

The operations involved in the installation, commissioning and maintenance of offshore wind farms are complex in nature. Therefore, it should come of no surprise to note that the equipment required to carry out these campaigns need to be just as innovative. It is for this reason that off-the-shelf components simply do not deliver what operators are looking for: more often than not, developing bespoke one-off products is the only way to get the job done.

The Netherlands-based engineering and manufacturing company Draftec knows this only too well. “Clients do not come to us for a product that they can find in a catalogue. Quite the opposite, they come to us looking for flexibility in the design,” begins Robin de Vos, Draftec’s Lead Electrical and Software Engineer. “Furthermore, they want to be involved with the design process because they often have limited footprint available on board their vessels.”

While concentrating on the design, engineering and production of custom-made products, Draftec’s portfolio – of which approximately 90% is mobilised in the offshore energy sector – is notably diverse, ranging from single components all the way up to whole systems. “Our work varies a lot in format,” De Vos continues. “It can be a small, relatively straightforward piece of equipment: a rotating crane hook, for example. But we also work on total packages: an entire cable lay installation is a good example of such a complex project. And even similar projects – a survey moon pool actuator, for example – on a client’s fleet of vessels end up being one-offs as each ship was slightly different.”

Although Draftec’s projects are diverse – pile cleaning tool, containerised cable tensioner, umbilical bend restrictor, motion compensated fall-pipe system, monopile gripper and retractable boat landing ladder to name a few – the common denominator is that each one starts off with a blank piece of paper. “We design and engineer our projects from scratch. The first step is often to go on board and look at the situation, listen to the client’s requirements and the problem that they are facing,” De Vos explains. “Then, after making a concept design, we have a collaborative working process with the client to produce a detailed design. This is an interactive back-and-forth relationship in which we share our knowledge and experience to come up with a solution. This is then engineered, manufactured, assembled, tested, commissioned and installed by us.”

Taking a multidisciplinary approach
Specialist equipment for specialist tasks: that is the defining aspect of offshore engineering. And this is how Draftec has been working since the company was founded in 2009. During this time, the company has worked with a multidisciplinary approach, with its hydraulics, mechanical and electrical departments working in unison.

“Because we are a multidisciplinary company, everyone is aware of each other’s job and we are all involved in the design from the beginning. As a result, even the most straightforward action such as placing a sensor, for instance, goes smoothly because both the electrical and mechanical teams know what is expected of each other,” says De Vos.

The fact that Draftec has all these disciplines in-house is also an advantage, with teams for the most part working in parallel. “In practice, it is good to have the mechanical and hydraulic teams working slightly ahead of the electrical and software aspects of the project. This is because hydraulics plays such a crucial role in the components and systems we build; therefore getting the hydraulics right first prevents us having to make modifications afterwards.”

When talking to De Vos, it is clear to see that he takes definite pride in his work. “The Nexus project [Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel] was very memorable for me – this has stayed in my mind as a unique project. It was actually the first Draftec project I worked on back in 2014. We started off working on one electrical system and ended up getting involved in the whole cable lay system. It is very nice to work so closely with a client and translate their requirements into a finished product.”

Reducing lead times
Another common factor in Draftec’s projects is short lead times: projects are commonly wrapped up and ready to go within the tight timeframes required by clients. Ten weeks rather than ten months, for example. This is where one of Draftec’s key suppliers – Bachmann electronics – enters the equation. “Bachmann provides the brains of the machines we build, based around their PLCs [programmable logic controllers]. Without a PLC to handle the controls and automation, the machine is not going to do what the client needs it to do,” notes De Vos. “Bachmann PLC’s are not only reliable, they have such short lead times that this is not a limiting factor in our contracts with our clients.”

The first project that Draftec and Bachmann electronics completed together was the automation systems for Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel Nexus in 2014 and since then “every project where we need a PLC, we use a Bachmann PLC” adds De Vos. “They work with us in the commissioning of our products for our clients and provide us with ongoing diagnostics and service support in the operational phase. If we are facing a challenge and need help, they help us very quickly. It’s a real partnership.”

Stabilising systems
The question of identifying future trends in the offshore market is notoriously difficult. On the one hand, offshore operators are known to be understandably risk-averse. On the other hand, the offshore wind sector has yielded numerous groundbreaking innovations over the years.

Focusing on his primary task of electrical and software engineering, De Vos points to the importance of stabilising current systems. “Reducing the amount of cabling will certainly optimise and, therefore, stabilise electrical systems. Currently, every sensor has a cable running to the PLC in what is essentially a remote I/O system. But we are looking forward to working with Bachmann’s new decentralized I/O, the M100,” he says. “This will allow us to bring all the sensor cables to one point and, from there to the PLC with just one cable. The M100 will result in less footprint on board and enable simplified diagnostics. Also, reducing the length of cables will make repairing faults more straightforward.”

Joining the conversation with a broader view is Draftec’s Director Martijn Boone who highlights the company’s recent merger into the WIND Group of companies as an important development for the future. “WIND is a world leader and a full-service solution provider for transport, handling and storage of subsea cables,” he says. “Joining this WIND family is a strategic decision and truly expands the group potential for future growth. We are really looking forward to be a partner in the global cable business with our added value and experience, delivering the custom-made mission equipment the market need on their offshore wind projects.”.  

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