Offshore Access market and methods

Introduction

The offshore access industry exists of all companies that can transfer personnel from a moving vessel to a stable platform offshore. This relatively young industry has grown fast in the last decade, mainly due to the fact that companies in the offshore oil & gas industry and the offshore wind sector have grown exponentially. There are many ways to facilitate the offshore transport of employees: Helicopter, jack-up platform, Windcat workboat and the differentiated system.

Market

The clients of the offshore access industry are categorized in two segments: The offshore oil & gas industry and the offshore wind sector. Both segments are growing in a rapid speed. For example, the offshore wind segment has grown 54% in 2009 alone (EWEA, 2010). It is expected that this growth will even increase, since countries like Germany are planning to build a lot of wind parks in the future.

The other segment is the conservative offshore oil & gas industry. Even though it is clear that the differentiated offshore access system is much safer and reliable in use, they still stick to using the helicopter solely for operations. This segment also grows in a rapid pace, mainly due to the recent oil discoveries in Brazil.

Methods

The first offshore access solution ever used was the helicopter. The helicopter has been the primary way of offshore transport in the offshore oil & gas industry. The biggest advantage of the helicopter is that it can travel fast to the offshore platform. However, it has to be noted that the helicopter is very vulnerable to weather conditions like fog and storm. Moreover, there have been lots of accidents in the past, with injuries and casualties of offshore employees (offshore security).  CHC Helicopters is the biggest provider of helicopter transport.

The jack-up platform is the least popular method. It is very expensive to use and only a bit safer than the helicopter. The jack-up platform is some sort of platform on four legs that rises out of the sea, and can be used as gangway to transfer personnel.

Another solution is the Windcat workboat. This is some sort of specialized vessel that directly navigates to the platform in question. Then, it goes full throttle in order to ‘stick’ to the platform.

The last alternative is the differentiated offshore accesssystem that can compensate wave motions up till 4 meters. This system is the most advanced offshore access solution and enables workers to walk over a gangway from a moving vessel to a platform, almost like crossing a street.