Belgium: Barge Master and GeoSea Complete Offshore Motion Compensation Solutions Testing

Barge Master and GeoSea have recently completed their final offshore test as part of a series of tests designed to prove innovative motion compensated supply and installation solutions.

The workability during offshore supply and installation operations is strongly influenced by both weather and sea conditions. The “swell” (long waves) has an especially significant impact on the motions of supply vessels and crane barges, often putting onboard personnel, equipment and installation components at risk. In such instances, work is interrupted leading to extra costs and tight time schedules.

A new and innovative motion compensating heavy load platform called the Barge Master has been invented and developed by Barge Master bv. The Barge Master compensates vessel motions and allows safe working in more extreme sea conditions and thereby increases workability windows for offshore supply and installation operations. The development of the Barge Master platform has opened up a wide range of new and innovative offshore supply and installation solutions.

In its continuous search for innovation, GeoSea believes that the use of the Barge Master system will be beneficial to their offshore supply and installation methodologies, and therefore will benefit their customers.

Thorough testing by the cooperating parties has successfully proven the practicability of motion compensated installation and supply work, showing compensation percentages of over 95% of the barge movements in all test configurations.

The final test encompassed an offshore supply operation involving GeoSea’s jack up barge, Goliath and Barge Master’s newly built BM-001 platform mounted on a standard North Sea barge. An offshore supply scenario was staged in the concession zone of the future wind farm, Rentel, in the Belgian North Sea.

[mappress]

Press release, January 31, 2013; Image: deme