Transparency and data access in the offshore energy support vessel sector

Leading CTV operators are driving for more transparency around vessel performance as the market seeks to ‘level the playing field’ in offshore wind support. While historically project owners have led demands for greater transparency around operational and performance data, a number of CTV vessel operators have identified a clear market opportunity in being ahead of the curve.

Establishing a ‘performance benchmark’ for the CTV industry marks a commercial opportunity for offshore wind support firms who take the lead in data transparency and digitalisation. We spoke to Chris Huxley-Reynard, engineering director of Reygar Ltd, a UK-based company active in fully integrated remote monitoring and fleet reporting systems to the marine industry, to find out about the market opportunity for the offshore wind industry. He comments: “The CTV market has always been competitive. Which is why they all want to demonstrate credentials and why they want a fair playing field.”

The drive for transparency has been a long time in the making, coming in response to rising demand from offshore wind project owners for CTV operational and performance data. This data, which includes motion, engine performance, weather conditions and fuel consumption, has a strong influence on procurement decisions as owners look to increase ‘time on turbine’ for their technicians, as well as the overall safety and cost-efficiency of their projects.

To date however, supplying this data has been seen as a ‘check-box’ requirement. Initiatives such as ‘p-plot’, supported by wind farm owners, have provided a strong model for increasing clarity by looking to formulate a standard to measure the relative operational performance of CTV’s in different sea states. However, this top-down approach to shared data has received a mixed reception from vessel operators, given the perceived commercial risk of opening their data to the market and the cost of gathering and processing the necessary operational data.

In contrast, leading operators including Seacat Services, CWind, Tidal Transit, High Speed Transfers, and Maritime Craft Services have found that taking data monitoring into their own hands through the installation of the BareFLEET system is an opportunity for commercial development, rather than a hurdle.

Huxley-Reynard comments: “I think CTV operators want to prove their credentials to wind farm operator customers. They want evidence on how their vessels are performing, in various weather conditions and regarding fuel efficiency.” BareFLEET is a fleet monitoring platform that offers insight into all aspects of vessel performance and health. Developed to help maximise the operational effectiveness of fleets, BareFLEET automatically gathers a comprehensive set of engine, navigational, vibration, motion and health data, including fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions, vertical heave motion, tower impact and push-on force, plus indications of motion sickness.

“The system can also offer benefits from a sustainability point of view, particularly regarding understanding where fuel is being used and potential opportunities to reduce fuel consumption”, says Huxley-Reynard. “The system also offers key performance indicators, which allows the user to score the effectiveness of a transfer from 0 to 10. Technicians need to arrive at work in a good state to be able to do their job, which is why measuring the ride comfort is of importance.  Next to that the system can also register the performance of onboard machinery to plan preventative maintenance. The system serves various purposes for different people. For instance, on the one hand you have the daily digital log feature, where a skipper can enter information regarding personnel, transfer and bunkering. On the other hand the CTV operator can take this information from the skipper and send it to their customer, serving as evidence how well the vessel is performing and where potential improvements lie. But also, BareFLEET allows wind farm operators to maximise the time technicians have on the turbine. It all comes down to the cost of operations and maintenance support, the cost of chartering and running a fleet to maximize time of turbine, and the environmental benefits of limiting unnecessary fuel consumption.”

“Evidence on how their vessels are performing”

Critically, CTV operators have also highlighted that achieving this transparency is not coming at a high commercial or financial cost. The adoption of the BareFLEET vessel monitoring is creating substantial efficiencies for their businesses and setting them apart in the market. By adopting advanced monitoring systems such as BareFLEET, operators are able to understand the performance of their vessels in different weather conditions and under different crews. Whilst in the short-term, taking the opportunity to drive commercial improvements through increased understanding of vessel performance will set businesses apart, in the long term the sharing of this data will ensure that a level playing field is brought about for the industry as a whole.

“Understanding vessel performance”

“It is a very affordable thing to do, taking the step into digitalization”, says Huxley-Reynard. “All this daily data bundled into information that can be read easily, at the cost of pint of beer.”

This article was previously published in the Offshore WIND magazine, issue 2, 2019.