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Uptime launches digital ecosystem for floating gangway system

By: Tom Russell 28/11/2022 Uptime International

Equipment Floating General

Uptime International (Uptime) in Karmøy north of Stavanger has developed a digital ecosystem which it claims ensures intelligent and autonomous operation of gangways connecting two floating units. The company is aiming this technology at floating wind power projects.

According to Uptime, benefits offered by the ecosystem range from safer logistical operations, faster execution of operations, reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from service vessels, and not least increased uptime for the wind turbine.

Andreas Seth, senior vice president for rental and services at Uptime International, reports that one of the challenges with floating wind is that both turbines and service vessels are subject to wave motion, and are thereby often out of step with each other.

“These units move independently of each other, particularly with much wind, currents or waves,” he said. “Under such conditions, it can be difficult to know with any certainty whether it is safe to land the gangway from the ship to the turbine, or to disconnect it.”

Moving service personnel and spare parts between vessel and floating turbine is influenced by the fact that both units are constant motion. Landing the gangway on the turbine is often especially challenging, particularly in bad weather.

“Strong currents represent a particular challenge since they are less predictable than wind and waves,” said Seth. “We therefore also measure the relative angle in relation to the landing point in the horizontal plane so that the vessel can correct for deviations at an early stage.”

The company is now developing an ecosystem comprising a set of digital solutions which are designed to make it easier to control gangway operations remotely or make them autonomous.

“This system continuously registers, analyses and learns from the loads involved,” explains Seth. “It gives the operator insight and decision support, which help to make the job ever more efficient and profitable, with an ever smaller environmental footprint.”

The collective designation for the company’s solution is UPTIME Digital Ecosystem. This product currently comprises components for gangway control, digital tracking of personnel and equipment moving over the gangway, and an automated pallet robot.

These components are tied together through a cloud service which utilises and systematises the data to improve decision support across ship and operations. Uptime envisages introducing additional functions and services in coming years, in part through the UPTIME COLLABORATE cloud service.

UPTIME CONTROL is the brain of the gangway system. Seth explains that is designed to ensure autonomous landing on the floating turbine.

“Put very simply, this means that a camera on the gangway focuses and latches onto a point on the turbine, and compensates in relation to that. The control system simulates a landing using the actual weather data, and identifies a safe place to land for itself.

“These assessments are currently made by the operator controlling the gangway. The special demands posed by floating wind power have demanded the construction of a completely new control system from the ground up.”

“Turbine downtime equals lost green power generation,” Seth adds. “It’s therefore important that the time required to connect and disconnect the gangway, transfer and return personnel and equipment, and carry out turbine service is as short and secure as possible.

“In addition to providing safe access for service personnel, our digital ecosystem helps to enhance efficiency, reduce energy consumption and emissions from the vessels, and increase turbine uptime – thereby contributing to the shift to green and renewable energy.”

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Uptime launches digital ecosystem for floating gangway system

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