Offshore Project Simulations

We do this by creating a virtual reality, a mirror image of the actual circumstances in which the T&I plan shall be executed, with vessels, local weather and sea state, sailing area, communications and other circumstances, to determine the best execution plan out of the possible options. We determine utilized forces as tow wire tensions and tugs’ bollard pull, anchor chain and mooring rope tensions, in combination with optimized headings, in calm weather but especially in unforseen squall situations.

We not only provide a complete bridge simulation, but also simulated aft deck and subsea work. Simulated execution makes it possible for the towmaster to direct simulated one or all vessels in the installation spread.

And where trainingcentres are mostly housed in offices you have to visit, OPS is a mobile equipment setup and we can come to your location.

Besides the simulation possibilities we are offering, OPS also offers very experienced tow and mooring masters or project managers who will execute your projects to your satisfaction.

A picture says more than a thousand words, they say. OPS believes a motion picture of the project at hand will say even more and helps you sell your tender better than anything else. Showing your client, by film, your solution as the best available, will give you the unique selling advantage over every other tender which will be on paper only. This will convince your client that they are at the right address with you.

Say, you are the Oil/Gas/Wind company, and have chosen your offshore construction partner. Now you want  to test your installation ideas.

Or, you are the offshore installation contractor, and want to show possible solutions to your client. Of course, you want to offer the best solution.

Simulation offers the best way to find the best solution for your T&I questions. You can test several possibilities, and chose the right one, based on proved figures. That means the safest, quickest, most profitable solution. It also saves on Co2 footprint, the green way is important.

Also, simulation offers the opportunity to exercise the involved vessel crews and installation officers. And although OPS is not a training facility, we do offer the exercise as the best way to gain experience in the T&I operations and find the best solutions for the T&I questions.

OPS works with proven technology, ready vessel models, or, on request, exact digital twins. Also, OPS personnel have experience, a lot of experience. Working in the towing, salvage and offshore industry since 1982, we may say we gained some experience here and there. As officer and captain, as towing and mooring master, as salvage master, as client representative, as offshore project manager. All positions that added to the experience.

Simply said, your T&I question may very well have been executed by OPS in earlier days.

That does not mean that your situation is routine. No T&I job is ever routine. Every single one of them is a unique situation. That’s why simulation is the only possible way to experience the project even before it starts. Weather, current, available time, local environment, experience of involved personnel, equipment, cyclones, all of these and more factors influences the execution phase of the project. And since all these influences can be simulated as if they were real, we have the opportunity to test operational limiting factors one by one and set these limits to realistic figures.

It’s a fact that weather has changed dramatically over the last years. Projects we have executed  in the recent past encountered worse than expected weather during the T&I phase. Cylones and Taifoons are occurring out of the usual season, and when close to the coast local thunderstorms are more frequent and more severe than usual. This generates unusual and unpredictable current directions and strengths, which makes the installation more difficult to execute. The problem is not so much the actual weather and sea state, but the unpredictability is. The fact is they never occur in the weather predictions of the usually hired in weather prediction services. Even the local weather services have difficulty to predict them correctly.

While changing global weather is a fact, OPS simulates these occurrences in the simulation phase of your T&I project, and creates a safe environment in which the actual installation can be executed. Just because the involved executives have exercised and are aware these occurrences might appear. Forewarned is forearmed!

Co2 output is a major issue with companies. You have to be green, and do a lot to reduce their Co2 footprint. Simulation has hardly any Co2 footprint. But it will reduce the project footprint, when you know for sure you are working according the best solution. That solution will be the most quick to get the wanted results. And reduced time means less fuel, less waste, less footprint.

The simulator system meets the DNVGL-ST-0033 Maritime Simulator Systems Standard.

In our simulations we use existing models. However, we have the possibility to create* an exact digital twin of your own vessel, and simulate behaviour of the vessel as if it was real. The behaviour of the vessel within the setting of the project enhances the outcome of the simulation and gives you the opportunity to show to your clients all possibilities the vessel offers. *A creation and testing delivery time applies based on complexity.