Integrity Management News

Briston. R.I. based naval architecture and marine engineering frim Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) announced it has hired Kyle Pagan as a naval architect.Pagan holds a Master’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State University. For his graduate research, he conducted an in-depth study of the performance of 3D printing materials under the influence of water exposure…

Whether we realize it or not, robotics and robotics systems are starting to impact our daily lives. From warehouse picking systems through to high-end medical devices through to your mowbot lawnmower. Each tends to be specialized to its own task and a similar trend is now starting to play out in the offshore wind space, where it’s hoped that robots can make operations safer and more efficient.According to a report, The Economic Opportunity for Robotics in Offshore Wind and Key Energy Markets by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult)…

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics and deep-sea data acquisition company, has tapped DNV for its ShipManager fleet management software for 17 new robotic ships and additional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Ocean Infinity, which last year launched a program to build a fleet of unmanned surface robots - the Armada - will implement ShipManager’s modules for planned maintenance, procurement, and business intelligence for its advanced fleet of uncrewed, low-emission vessels for capturing ocean data.

Industries are adapting to an increasingly digitalized landscape. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) industry is no different. As concerted efforts are made to improve project economics Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Offshore, discusses how digitalization can increase safety, reduce costs, and build robust technical and operational capabilities.No one could have predicted what a challenging year 2020 would become. Offshore production activity fluctuated dramatically with changing market economics and a global pandemic…

FPSO specialist Bluewater and classification company DNV GL have teamed up in a pilot project aimed at testing how hybrid digital twin technology can predict and analyze fatigue in the hull of an FPSO in the North Sea, increase safety, and reduce operational costs and time by optimizing inspections.The project aims to validate and quantify the benefits of creating a virtual replica of the FPSO to optimize the structural safety of the vessel and enhance risk-based inspection (RBI)…

The oil and gas industry is currently enduring one of the most challenging periods in its history. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated an existing decline in global demand for hydrocarbons, resulting in the lowest oil prices for 30 years. This has left the industry facing the dual challenge of ensuring successful and safe working conditions and practices for employees while maintaining the economic viability of assets.How can operators maintain, or even raise…

Engineering X – an international collaboration founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation – has awarded nearly £1 million ($1.2 million) in grants to six projects in the U.K. and overseas aimed at tackling the complex social, environmental and engineering challenges of decommissioning ships and offshore structures.From training to improve worker safety in ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh, to assessing the risks of structural failure of decommissioned offshore structures…

KOTUG International B.V. has completed the 100% acquisition of Marsol International Ltd., an offshore and marine terminal service center, specialized in offshore single point mooring (SPM) buoy terminals and its related infrastructure.The core business of Marsol is integrity management based commercial and technical marine service solutions for SPM and offshore terminals. Over the years Marsol’s management has operated on 32 offshore marine terminals in more than 20 countries. Marsol’s operational headquarters are based in Dubai.

California Energy Commission has awarded Aker Solutions and Cognite a $2 million grant for a project called NextWind Real-Time Condition Monitoring.The project is focused on next-generation solutions in wind through digitalization and aims to develop a holistic digital solution that will enable monitoring the condition of an offshore floating wind farm and its impact on the environment via live data streaming.Aker Solutions, partnering with Cognite, was selected for the grant award as part of the California Energy Commission's Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC).

Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, has successfully launched its first offshore pipeline integrity management system (PIMS) in the Iranian oil industry.According to IOOC, the system was launched in order to comply with international and national requirements for the standard, safe and continuous operation of the Salman Oilfield’s gas pipelines with a Norwegian company and the Pipeline Technology Company.The project is dubbed as the first of such projects in the Iranian offshore oil industry, said a report in Iran News.A Pipelines Management System (PMS) provides a clear process, with tasks and responsibilities…

Matt Tremblay, SVP, Global Offshore, ABS, discusses the next hot growth market ... offshore wind. While the market grows, the question begs: Is the U.S. marine industry ready to meet demand?The American Bureau of Shipping convened a conference to discuss the pace and direction of the U.S. offshore wind market, including challenges and opportunities for maritime, offshore, subsea and logistics markets. Matt Tremblay, SVP, Global Offshore, ABS, moderated the event and shares some of its findings here.Where do you see opportunities today for growth in the U.S.

Saipem, a energy and infrastructure solution provider, is implementing DNV GL’s hull planned maintenance system, ShipManager Hull, based on 3D digital twins of crane and pipelaying vessels.DNV GL will supply its advanced software, ShipManager Hull, for implementation on five vessels of the Saipem fleet. It will start with Saipem 7000, one of the world's largest crane vessels with a lifting capability of 14,000 tonnes at 42 meters. Indeed, crane vessels are exposed to high stresses during lifting, demanding particular attention to structural integrity.

Global engineering company BMT announced a partnership with Sonardyne to deliver to Subsea 7 its proven ‘Riser Monitoring System’ (RMS).The subsea integrity monitoring solution has been adopted by the world’s largest spar platform, Aasta Hansteen.The Aasta Hansteen Spar platform is operated and owned by Equinor ASA, the Norwegian multinational energy company.Located 300 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in water depths of up to 1,300m, the deepest field development on the NCS, the Aasta Hansteen Spar is installed in a harsh environment utilising highly robust deepwater Steel Catenary Risers (SCR).Neil Charles…

FPSO and marine integrity management specialists, Marine Technical Limits (MTL) has welcomed a senior naval architect to its team.Paul Allan, who has more than 10-years’ experience in delivering naval architecture and marine warranty surveying (MWS) to the oil and gas industry, has been appointed to the position of Senior Naval Architect by the Kintore-based firm.The chartered engineer will be supporting the MTL team developing systems and procedures, driving MWS and supporting the company’s global FPSO and marine activities.MTL…

Houston-based subsea engineering company Oceaneering International has secured a contract renewal from Equinor, the Norwegian multinational energy company, covering the provision of maintenance, reliability and integrity management.The oilfield provider of engineered services and products, primarily to the offshore oil and gas said in a press note that the contract, which was originally awarded to Oceaneering’s integrity business in 2005 and competitively tendered again in December 2013, is extended until December 2020.Under the agreement, Oceaneering will provide support to Equinor’s onshore and offshore facilities in Norway, covering a wide spectrum of maintenance…

A maritime consortium, including ABS and Sandia National Laboratories, recently proved the viability of a hydrogen fuel cell ferry designed for operations in the environmentally sensitive San Francisco Bay area. The IMO’s mandate to cap the sulfur content in marine fuel at the start of next year may be the biggest regulatory change in shipping since the requirement for double hulls, but the challenge will fade in comparison to its future goals to reduce green-house gases (GHG).A year ago (April 2018)…

PPG announced that its protective and marine coatings business (PPG-PMC) has introduced the PPG ASSET INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT (PPG AIM) system in the United States and Canada. This software-based asset management system assists facility owners, managers and maintenance engineers in scheduling, budgeting and optimizing the corrosion protection of metal structures, buildings and equipment under their care for up to 20 years in the future.The PPG AIM system is based on proprietary algorithms developed by PPG from NACE 509 and ISO 12944® corrosion-forecasting standards.

Bureau Veritas (BV) has been awarded a contract by MISC Berhad (MISC) to deploy and support the VeristarAIM3D ‘software as a solution’ system to provide asset integrity services on selected MISC FPS systems:the Floating Storage & Offloading (FSO) vessel -FSO Benchama 2and the Floating Production, Storage & Offloading (FPSO) vessels - MaMPU1 and FPSO Cendor. Veristar AIM3D is BV’s sophisticated, full life-cycle Asset Integrity Management System, developed in partnership with Dassault Systèmes. Released in April 2017, it incorporates a unique combination of 3D enabling a digital twin of assets with smart data processing, via a connected platform to enabledata collection, updates, visualization,and data processing – with clear visibility through dashboards.

Growing interest in hybrid-electric power systems is expanding the search for new propulsion and energy-storage systems in the workboat sector, where compliance with emerging environmental regulations and a relentless pursuit of operational efficiency are driving change. To meet demands for cleaner more efficient power, owners are examining the potential for less conventional methods of energy generation and storage – such as fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, super-capacitors, flywheels, wind and solar – to propel their vessels.

Marsol International, a UAE-based global marine solutions provider focused on the offshore oil terminal market and related infrastructure, has signed a two years contract with Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production LLC (OOCEP) for the provision and management of the marine and offshore activities related to the tanker loading, via the single point mooring (SPM) offshore marine terminal including maintenance works, vessels, equipment and manpower. The Musandam gas plant, located on the west coast of the Musandam Peninsula…

Xodus Group and Green Marine are partnering to provide an integrated service for the maintenance of offshore renewable assets. The partners will utilise Xodus’ integrity management software XAMIN to capture and monitor live data from offshore marine assets, while Green Marine will offer physical offshore inspection and repair services. The one-stop solution aims to streamline an asset’s performance, providing efficiencies and preventing downtime, in particular targeting offshore wind, tidal and wave energy devices, cabling and associated infrastructure. Zande added: "The renewables sector has the opportunity to learn lessons from the oil and gas industry where poor data management is causing problems when identifying component condition or proving life extension.

Bureau Veritas has launched Veristar AIM 3D asset integrity management system, based on technology partner Dassault Systems’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The new solution combines a digital twin of any marine or offshore assets with smart data in a collaborative environment. Veristar AIM 3D will be used in the design, development and implementation of the operational lifecycle, to reflect and predict the condition of any asset, or fleet of assets. The solution supports risk based inspection and condition based maintenance approaches.

ABS has been awarded the Offshore & Marine Engineering Award by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). This award recognizes organizations that have made significant contributions toward the development of Singapore’s offshore and marine engineering sector. “ABS is honored to receive this award recognizing our leading role in Singapore’s marine and offshore industries,” says ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. The MPA award recognizes ABS for its breakthrough work in the areas of innovation, safety, and environmental protection and is an affirmation of the organization’s efforts in developing guidance for environmental and operational performance and advancing safety in new areas, such as cyber safety and big data.