Strainstall’s VMMS Aids Carbon Trust OWA Programme

Strainstall’s Vessel Motion Monitoring System (VMMS) has been successfully installed on a vessel running trials for the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme, a joint industry program aiming to reduce the cost of offshore wind by 10% for UK Round 3 sites.

The OWA trial focuses on turbine access systems, proving and de-risking design concepts. VMMS is supporting the Carbon Trust during prototype testing phases to quantify vessel conditions during personnel transfers.

Marc Costa Ros, manager from the Carbon Trust, stated: “Sea Trials are very important in order to verify the R&D activities that are currently being developed within the OWA, providing row data that feeds into the current developments, being one of the most relevant ones the definition of performance metrics for wind farm support vessels”. This is achieved by using a 6 degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion sensor to record X, Y, Z acceleration, as well as heave, pitch and roll rate.

Scott Cruttenden, business development manager of Strainstall, commented “VMMS is being widely used across the offshore wind and oil and gas industries and there seems to be a more pragmatic approach towards implementing solutions that can facilitate cost effective operations whilst enhancing safety levels.”

Past VMMS projects include the provision of systems to successfully aid barge loading operations and wind farm construction to maximise operational windows, as well as systems to monitor personnel “bucket transfers” in the oil and gas industry.

VMMS™ significantly improves safety levels of wind turbine transfer boats through accurate motion monitoring and the supply of user-friendly data for analytical purposes. The system provides an objective assessment of offshore conditions, protects personnel from injury during transfers, and also protects the vessel and equipment from sustaining damage.