Plans call for the initiative to be carried out on five dynamic positioning class 2-capable platform supply vessels (PSVs), all Bourbon Explorer 500 series, operating in deepwater and ultra-deepwater in blocks 17 and 32 off the Angolan coast.
"This new mode of vessel operation enables us to meet the challenge of controlling costs in the current time of recovering activity,” said Sonasurf operations manager Ivelino Do Nascimento. Sonasurf is jointly owned by Sonangol EP and Bourbon.
Through increased connectivity and digital technology, Bourbon’s smart shipping programme aims to simplify onboard operations, transferring functions currently carried out on board to ashore management, reducing the workload on the crew.
Bourbon said its smart shipping model is based on three pillars: operations on board, predictive maintenance and support from onshore operational centres.
This approach will result in each PSV’s dynamic positioning (DP) system being managed by the maintenance and bridge crew, and remotely monitored.
Digitalisation of some of the mandatory bridge tasks will reduce the crew’s administrative workload, allowing them to focus on vessel operations.
Bourbon said it will install a predictive maintenance system to continuously monitor each vessel’s main equipment, reducing vessel downtime and lowering the impact on charterer operations.
Bourbon said the smart shipping programme was in line with Total’s “willingness to deploy innovative solutions” to enable the sustainability of current vessel rates over the long term and control its production costs.
"The deployment of the programme at Total prefigures a new way of sustainable co-operation and optimised service delivery to our customers with fewer resources," added Bourbon Marine & Logistics chief executive Victor Chevallier.
Bourbon began rolling out its smart shipping programme in late 2017 as part of its “#Bourboninmotion” effort to reduce operational costs and optimise crew levels.
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