As the offshore wind industry in the North Sea ramps up, many secondary industries are springing up to supply products and services to the wind farm developers. One area where rapid changes are taking place is in the wind farm servicing market, with an increasing need for new crew transfer vessels and methodologies for getting engineers and operatives safely onto wind turbine platforms.
As OSBIT Power highlights, “improved crew transfer operations on offshore wind farms are vital” and as wind farm construction and operations continue apace, the company has designed and built an elegant solution to getting personnel from the service vessels to the wind trubine platform. The solution – MaXccess – has already successfully undergone harbour trials and preparations are currently under way for offshore trials.
“Whether during the construction, warranty or through life operation of a wind farm, delays due to lack of access result in cost escalations or lost revenue,” explains Dr Tony Trapp, Chief Executive of OSBIT Power . “By facilitating transfers in higher wave conditions than is currently possible, MaXccess ensures construction, maintenance and repair operations can safely continue when vessels using standard transfer methods would be back in harbour waiting for the right weather conditions. This is truly ‘a safe step forward in offshore access’ – a phrase we have adopted as our strap line.”
Tony Trapp established OSBIT Power 15 months ago, with the aim of improving offshore technologies, particularly those related to wind. Rapidly establishing a team of experienced and creative engineers, OSBIT Power set out to solve the “holy grail” of safe, efficient and cost effective offshore access. Three months later, a preferred concept was selected and detailed engineering started.
The subsequent detailed design and development of MaXccess included full scale trials in a large wave tank in December 2010, to confirm OSBIT Power’s belief that the unique combination of restraining vertical bow motion while allowing roll, pitch and yaw, would offer a stable platform from which personnel could access offshore structures. These successful tank trials led to a rapid manufacturing and commissioning programme, culminating in Lloyd’s witnessing of load testing of the first production version of MaXccess, MX11/01, in May 2011.
Harbour trials - latest milestone passed
The latest milestone has seen OSBIT Power install and successfully trial MX11/01 in controlled conditions, on a typical transfer vessel, docking with a replica boat landing platform on a wind turbine.
“This latest phase is further proof of MaXccess’ ability to achieve safe, secure and predictable transfers in higher wave conditions than is currently possible with existing ‘bump and jump’ transfer techniques,” says Tony Trapp. “Working in conjunction with leading offshore transfer companies, turbine manufacturers and wind farm operators, OSBIT Power has installed the first production system MX11/01 on the foredeck of a support vessel and conducted successful harbour trials.”
These harbour trials saw the clamp and rotate principle of MaXccess further verified, allowing OSBIT Power engineers and boat crew to practice the latching and detaching sequences in harbour conditions. MaXccess features a ‘traffic light’ system to ensure crew members receive positive indication when safe transfer is possible; and requires both the skipper and deck hand to confirm conditions are suitable before transfers can begin.
OSBIT Power is currently preparing for offshore trails of MX11/01, scheduled for the coming month, which are being held in order to demonstrate MaXccess’ ability to work safely and effectively on the existing, and planned, fleet of transfer vessels. OSBIT Power is exhibiting on Stand 25 at RenewableUK 2011 (Manchester, 25-27 October).
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