Research Project - Marine Operations in Extreme Conditions

The program has involved a large number of companies, including Rolls-Royce Marine, STX OSV, Ulstein, Marine Cybernetics, SINTEF Fishery and Aquaculture, SINTEF Health Research, Bourbon Offshore and Farstad Shipping. The main goal for the project has been to develop facilities for training of personnel and for development and testing of marine operations, including operational procedures, vessel- and equipment solutions.

Central topics in the program:

• Identification of working conditions, operations and procedures on-board offshore vessels
• Development of modules for realistic simulation of waves, current and wind
• Development of models for realistic behaviour of vessels, equipment, lines/anchors and systems in extreme conditions and during “fault conditions”
• Development of simulator based training concepts based on similar principles as used within the airline industry, including communication and team performance

It has also been a goal to establish a close collaboration between Aalesund University College (AAUC), NTNU and SINTEF in order to contribute to improved competence within safety and marine operations.

Background

The background for the project was that offshore vessel operators are faced with increasingly strict demands for offshore crew qualifications/competence and Health, Safety and Environment on-board, both from the offshore industry itself and from regulatory bodies. Given the increased activity level and operations in more vulnerable and harsh environments, the error margins are reduced, and the potential consequences of accidents are more serious than before. Training and education will need to be prioritized even more, and will represent very small investments compared with investments in vessels and equipment. Therefore there is an increasing demand for the development of an arena for training of personnel where the most demanding, extreme and critical operations can be simulated in a realistic manner. This includes situations caused by weather/environmental conditions, human errors, technical problems and limitations in human performance.

In addition to training of crewmembers in handling of critical situations, the use of such facilities will also be necessary for the development of new and improved operational procedures and contingency plans, by testing new equipment/systems and planning of how operations can be performed in a safe manner. Designers and constructors also have similar needs for testing and verification of their deliveries in simulated, but realistic conditions.  In the future, vendors will need to document the actual characteristics, capabilities and limitations of their products.

Regulatory bodies and classification societies will also have need for more fact-based knowledge about human factors when further developing rules, regulations and recommendations. The research project will provide new knowledge for development of rules and regulations, demands for qualifications and training of personnel, as well as establish limits for human factors coupled to performance.

Working Conditions

In order to develop good training concepts it was a pre-requisite for the project to find facts about the real working conditions for people working on-board offshore vessels. The research performed in the project has shown that shift-work, quality of sleep and physiological ability to perform are limiting factors for the safety of marine operations. Extensive research has been performed on-board Farstad Shipping vessels, related to how work shift routines affect the workers sleep cycles, cognitive abilities and their subjective quality of sleep. A Dr. scholarship holder at SINTEF Helse performed this work. The results show that crewmembers adapt to night shift during the first week on-board. However, this adaptation is not happening as quickly as shown earlier for crew on-board rigs and platforms. This difference is caused by factors such as “a moving workplace”, noise, exposure to low light intensities at night, and differences in food/nutrition. Further, a large laboratory study performed by SINTEF has aimed at studying physiological mechanisms when personnel move from day- to night shifts. This study shows that 20-minutes physical activity at night improves cognitive abilities and reduces sleepiness among the persons in the test group. This can be recommended as an efficient and simple measure in order to improve the ability to perform efficiently during the days it takes to get used to a new rhythm of day. The results from this part of the project have been useful for the development of training concepts and contributed to better understand of crewmembers working conditions.

Communication and collaboration

The development of training concepts based on communication and collaboration started at an early stage in the project based on many years of work within this area at AAUC. Extensive research was done in order to determine the industry needs, with special focus on priorities from experienced crew and operational personnel. Several training courses, like the AHO2 and PSV2 Team Performance and Safe Command were developed, resulting in increasingly active use of the simulator facilities, as functionality and vessel models were developed and implemented. The training courses were evaluated through questionnaires and interviews. 850 training participants have been involved in the evaluation. In addition, the ship owners have been interviewed about the cost/benefit for them. A total of 1350 people have attended the training courses so far. The feedback has been very positive. The simulator training has given the participants a good basis for understanding the value of teamwork, communication and collaboration for the safety on-board.

Man-Machine Interface

An important area within operational training is the interaction between humans and machines. Several attempts have been made to simplify and standardize the man-machine interface. In this project we have concentrated on contributing to increased understanding and consciousness about this area. AAUC has worked with Human factors related to ship bridge personnel, with focus on design and evaluation of bridge equipment and systems. Two master grade level courses have been developed; one focusing on the role of human factors for design of bridge systems, the other one for leadership mind-set in extreme conditions.

Training Concepts and Operational Procedures

In parallel with the development of simulator functionality and vessel model enhancements, a group of experienced masters from Bourbon Offshore and Farstad Shipping defined a set of important extreme and demanding scenarios and situations. Together with Gimmestad Consulting, who have many years experience within training concepts and procedures for the airline industry, an operational procedure handbook was developed. This handbook is intended for use on-board vessels and in simulator training.

Ship- and propulsion models

The partners Rolls-Royce Marine, Ulstein and STX have delivered detailed design data for 8 ships. These were modelled with respect to behaviour in water, and visualized. Marine Cybernetics did modelling of forces and propulsion effects. Forces from wind and current are based on simplified methods, while modelling of loss effects and actual thrust are based on sophisticated methods developed by Marintek and NTNU. The work has proved that modelling of loss effects and realistic models for actual thrust and effects on the vessel are most important. The work has also show that forces caused by waves are relatively modest compared with external forces from lines/anchors and loss of effectivity for propulsion and steering systems. These findings should be considered in future design and documentation of vessels operational limitations and capabilities.

Lines, anchors and other objects under water

As part of the project SINTEF developed mathematical models for forces and dynamics of lines and chains in water. These models are important for realistic simulation of many offshore operations such as winch operations. The models include effects of underwater currents and contact with the seabed. The line models can be configured with user defined material stiffness, dimensions and hydrodynamic coefficients. The models can also be connected to other components such as anchors, weights, buoys, Remote Operated Vessels or other lines. Lowering of objects through the splash-zone can be a critical operation, and the project has also involved investigation of important factors such as wave spectrums and periodical data.

Simulator development

A new wave-model has been developed and implemented. This model is configured such that it conforms to wave-specifications normally given in traditional linear formulas. The model gives several visual benefits, and can provide a more detailed definition of forces in the splash-zone than previous models. The project has also resulted in a new visualization concept for subsea systems, such that the entire operation can be visualized during simulator training. The simulator development has been an on-going process during the project, and the most significant enhancements have been:

• Implementation of PSV simulation
• Crane simulation with realistic behaviour of vessels, crane and lifting objects
• Improved data communication in the simulator
• Implementation of full-scale winch simulation (Rolls-Royce Towcon)
• Reconfigurable bridge components with interchangeable handles and soft panels
• Failure modes and loss effects in propulsion models
• Dynamic positioning interface
• Alarm system and sound system improvements