The Norwegian company Fred Olsen Windcarrier has ordered OCTOPUS-Onboard and OCTOPUS-Office for two new build Jack up vessels; the Brave Tern and Bold Tern. Fred Olsen Windcarrier meets the increasing demand for offshore wind turbine installation vessels and provides her clients with efficient installation of wind farms offshore.
Martin Eilander, Amarcon’s Manager Installation & Support , is excited with the order from Fred Olsen: “We are thrilled to be a part of the rapidly growing windmill installation market. The potential of this market is huge.” Part of the functionality onboard the Fred Olsen vessels shall be the OCTOPUS-DP functionality forecast. This extension within OCTOPUS-Onboard was first launched in 2010. The OCTOPUS-DP forecast functionality gives offshore vessels the possibility to make optimum use of a safe time window for their weather-sensitive operations. A forecast is given if the vessel is capable of maintaining her position and heading in changing environmental and weather conditions, hours and days ahead. This forecast is shown on a screen on the bridge of the vessel, in a way that is easy to understand for the crew. Martin Eilander continues; “When planning operational windows with OCTOPUS-Onboard, the complete sequence of the different stages of the installation work will be considered, based on weather forecasts. This is important because each stage has its own working limitations and required duration of good conditions.” Next to the traditional functionality, customized new features for Fred Olsen are added to the software. The effect of the Voith Schneider propellers on the roll motion calculation in OCTOPUS-Onboard is implemented. The roll damping effect of the propellers is then taken into consideration and is shown on the user interface.”
Fred Olsen will not only make use of OCTOPUS during the actual offshore windmill installation: When using OCTOPUS-Office, engineers at the Fred Olsen onshore office can use this sophisticated software for evaluation of ship behavior in waves and to determine operational limits for the Brave and Bold Tern. This can all be done within a few mouse clicks.
The installation of OCTOPUS-Onboard on both vessels is planned for June and October 2012.
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Source: AMARCON, June 07, 2011; Image: fredolsen