Damen Shipyards Group has teamed up with MO4 to take a step towards the digitalisation of offshore wind farm operations. This strategic alliance pairs Damen’s Triton monitoring platform with MO4 motion forecasting knowledge, offering data analytic based services. Vessel operation will become more effective and safety levels will increase at the same time.

Offshore wind farm operators frequently require crew transfer vessel operators to demonstrate and secure their ability to provide safe transfers. Reports are required which include data on such things as impact-force measurement on vessel landing, push force recovery during transfer and vertical slip measurements. Relevant wave and weather information are added to give a clear impression of the performance of both vessel and crew in daily operation. Furthermore forecasting services for vessels’ motions are increasingly relevant to realise safe and efficient crew transfers.

MO4 and Damen saw the opportunity to integrate the motion forecasting service with the Triton platform resulting in a single, secured, vessel connection supporting premier league motion based applications. The idea was to harvest the operational data via Damen Triton – Damen’s award winning connected vessel platform – in order to feed MO4’s analysis.

“MO4 is a provider of high quality solutions on motion prediction in wind and offshore applications,” explains Toine Cleophas, manager programs at Damen and responsible for the development of Triton. “The collaboration between our companies forms a part of Damen’s Smart Ship programme and will increase customer value by supporting a more digitalised Damen portfolio.”

Damen Triton is a remote monitoring and operational insight tool, a connected, collaborative IoT platform that collects data from multiple sensors located around the vessel. This data offers vessel operators the opportunity, for example, to monitor and optimise performance of their vessel from a remote location. The Triton system ensures a safe and secure data transfer as a result of smart digital integration on board, combined with high cyber security features.

Mark Paalvast, Co-Founder of MO4 adds, “We have high expectations from our collaboration with Damen as we see that they too are frontrunners in digitalisation. As a team we will be able to combine Damen’s long-standing experience with MO4’s innovative technologies. Within this, the Triton system will serve as a reliable basis for gathering and distribution of all data, allowing our analytics software to provide top tier output. This will lead to increased insight and better performance. We often say ‘without data, it’s just another opinion’.”

All offshore operations are in some way limited by weather and waves. At certain thresholds the vessels experience too much dynamics to either safely operate or to have people on deck. Knowing such limitations a number of days in advance is highly advantageous. MO4 motion prediction services allows for much better planning and use of the asset.

Decisions related to seeking shelter or to continue operations are now straightforward and no longer include excessive conservatism. For the motion forecasting service MO4 has set-up a vessel specific digital twin, taking into consideration all these parameters automatically. These digital twins consider parameters such as the dynamic positioning (DP) system, maximum thrust, vessel motions in waves, wind and swell sea, and much more. Roderick Buijs, Damen regional service manager said, “It is great to see that we can build our market propositions based on the connectivity of vessels enabled by Triton through partnering with experts in the field for niche-analyses that generate direct value to our customer. This alliance leads to better solutions for our clients at more competitive rates, whilst both contributing to Damen’s digitalisation ambition and encouraging the production of sustainable energy.”