Dubai-based OSV owner and logistics support company Topaz Energy and Marine has completed sea trials of SceneScan, a targetless dynamic positioning (DP) laser sensor that requires no reflector target, increasing both safety and operational uptime, according to technology provider Wärtsilä.
As described by Wärtsilä, the SceneScan system is a high-accuracy rotating laser sensor that provides positional data to allow automated approach and station keeping relative to a structure or vessel. The tracking information is relative to natural or man-made structures within the sensor's field of view by matching its current observation of the scene against a map generated from previous observations of the scene.
Tests on the SceneScan system were carried out on board Topaz Citadel, a 72-m, dynamic positioning class 2 capable platform supply vessel owned by Topaz Energy and Marine. Developed by Wärtsilä’s Guidance Marine, SceneScan was connected to an existing Wärtsilä DP system on the vessel.
Following the successful 90-day tests, Topaz Energy plans to keep the SceneScan system on Topaz Citadeland install it on four other vessels, by upgrading their existing DP sensor systems. Wärtsilä will also install and commission the systems.
“The testing and evaluation were carried out and proven under actual DP operations with offshore platforms in the Caspian Sea,” said Guidance Marine head of business development Andrew Stead. “This is fully in line with Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine vision, for which enhanced vessel safety is a key pillar,” he added.
“The installation on board Topaz Citadel was seamless, and the technical support provided by Wärtsilä throughout the testing period successfully determined the system’s overall effectiveness,” said Topaz Energy and Marine operations director Paul Jarkiewicz. “We have no doubt the SceneScan system will add considerable value to the DP operations of our versatile and digitised fleet.” said Mr Jarkiewicz.
Topaz Energy has been at the forefront of adapting digitalisation in its operations to fundamentally transform its business model, something its chief executive Rene Kofod-Olsen emphasised at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference in London.
|
