The challenge

Conducting an offshore site survey is complex at the best of times. But when the world became engulfed in a pandemic, normal survey challenges were multiplied at this offshore geophysical site investigation in the Republic of Congo. How could teams work effectively from remote locations? How could decisions be made quickly – without the usual lines of communication? To make matters tougher still, movement restrictions meant that only 12-hour line running could safely be achieved and due to safe manning limitations, the vessel had to be on standby overnight. With all these safety measures in place, how could timelines and costs be controlled? With all these factors at play, it was essential we were able to provide effective oversight, enabling timely, informed decisions to be made, reducing the scope of work on behalf of our client.

The solution

To meet these challenges and achieve the survey objectives, we deployed Seekat® our innovative, interactive marine management platform. With this in place, the project was successfully completed without the need for an offshore QA/QC representative. Instead, effective, and timely decisions were made from our offices in Aberdeen and Bath. While many projects ground to a halt, this survey was delivered on time and under budget – with no safety incidents.

How we did it

Our response started before the survey began. By adopting a rigorous and holistic approach to survey planning we were able to establish vessel suitability, site conditions and take steps to mitigate onsite risks.
To provide the required level of assurance remotely, we acquired the vessel’s satellite AIS data as well as a direct navigation feed. This allowed us to track the vessel and compare predicted and modelled survey duration and line running. From this information we could determine any overruns on lines and check the reasons with the contractor. We could assess cross track errors, line speed and other factors to check data quality and verify timing allocation. Throughout the project our cloud-based dashboards provided real-time information on project performance, timing, weather and HSE incidents. Financial data was captured and displayed, including spend to date against progress to date and a predicted cost to completion.
Geophysical data was constantly streamed to our offices for review so that the quality, coverage and – most importantly – variability could be assessed. This enabled us to achieve a thorough interrogation of the data and a high level of project assurance.