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Reflex Marine Sees Demand Grow Globally for TORO Crew Transfer Capsule Print

Recognised experts in marine personnel transfer, Reflex Marine, is meeting global demand for its TORO crew transfer capsule and has sold 30 across offshore Asia-Pacific, Europe, North and West Africa, Australia and America.

Most of the units are being utilised by major international oil and gas operators, however, the company has also entered the renewables sector, selling four capsules for use on wind turbine installation barges.

While Reflex Marine’s range of crew transfer capsules are an accepted and established method of crew transfer in the oil and gas industry, safe access to offshore wind turbines is still a key concern for operators. Significant numbers of personnel must access offshore wind structures for year-round maintenance or unplanned interventions.

Reflex Marine has reviewed a variety of concepts and believes that a vertically winched capsule, such as the TORO, could provide an excellent access solution to the turbines themselves.  The main advantages being improved safety through reduced reliance on human responses, a much-improved operating envelope, a means of emergency evacuation and the ability to extract injured and stretchered personnel and one system for moving people and equipment.

The TORO, which was launched in February 2009, can carry up to four passengers, protecting them from side impact and heavy landings and is buoyant and self-righting. The protected body position and seat design allow it to be used without seatbelts (subject to company policy and local legislative requirements) and facilitates fast loading and unloading of personnel.  Certified with CE marking and ABS Type Approval, the TORO fits into a standard shipping container, providing significant logistical benefits.

David Brittan, Reflex Marine’s business development director said: “We are very happy to hit this landmark sale, especially as the technology was launched at a time of economic downturn. The TORO was developed in direct response to industry demand for a low cost transfer device which still maintained high levels of passenger protection and operational performance. With operators scrutinising their budgets, we feel the TORO can offer a cost-effective and truly safe alternative to more established forms of traditional transfer baskets.

“We are particularly pleased with the initial uptake from the wind energy sector. For some time now, we have been discussing the offshore access challenge for turbines and we are now seeing companies look into how this will be resolved. It is great to see the licensing round three being so successful but if people don’t start thinking about the operation and maintenance challenges, we could fall behind our European counterparts.”  http://www.reflexmarine.com

 

 

Savi Launches SmartChain(R) to Wirelessly Track Supplies and Improve Safety in the Oil and Gas Industry Print

Real-Time Visibility and Management of Equipment and Personnel Can Minimize Operational Downtime and Failures 

Savi, a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) company and leading provider of wireless supply chain and asset management solutions, has announced that its SmartChain® solution can now be leveraged by the Oil and Gas industry to improve supply chain and work-related activities, reduce downtime, and provide a consolidated view of real-time data to make better decisions.

The SmartChain release automates information on the status and integrity of assets and products as well as the safety of personnel throughout the Oil and Gas value chain, including exploration and production, refining and distribution operations.  The announcement was made here before the April 14th opening of the annual RFID Live! Conference where Savi's Steven Clarke presents during the Oil and Gas track. (RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification technologies).

SmartChain is enterprise-level software that optimizes operational readiness, improves asset utilization and minimizes unplanned events by providing actionable information on the location and status of assets such as Cargo Carrying Units (CCUs), rail cars, tools and drill pipe.  SmartChain also monitors the integrity of mission-critical equipment such as pipeline and the status of products and personnel in refineries.

"Not having the right tool at an offshore platform or oil rig can actually shut down the whole process for a day or two, costing tens of millions of dollars," said Dr. Ben Zoghi, an engineering  professor at Texas A&M University and director of the RFID Oil and Gas Consortium. "RFID technology solutions can solve new challenges faced in the petroleum industry by helping companies more effectively utilize assets at a time of high oil demand worldwide and constrained capacities, as well as detect potential system failures and locate personnel in times of crisis."

"Already proven in the world's largest and most complex supply chains, our SmartChain solution can revolutionize the efficiency and effectiveness of Oil and Gas operations by providing true end-to-end visibility," said David Stephens, chief executive officer of Savi Technology.  "SmartChain for the petroleum industry draws on two decades of experience providing complete wireless supply chain solutions, coupled with domain and technology expertise from our partners."

Stephens emphasized that the SmartChain solution also can be adapted and applied to the chemical, energy, utility, mining and defense supplier industries, all of which have related challenges around the management of assets, yard equipment, inventory, personnel and safety.

SmartChain for Oil and Gas is the result of a solution alliance Savi announced last November that integrates technology from KBR Wireless, which provides passive RFID technology solutions, and Shipcom Wireless, a provider of supply chain execution software.  The three companies have combined technology and domain experience with BP, Exxon, Shell, Ras Gas, Dow Chemical, Ensco International, FMC Technologies, Sempra Energy, NATO, U.S. and international defense agencies, and a diversity of other government and commercial organizations.

The highly adaptable SmartChain Enterprise Platform and Asset Management suite, already proven in the chemical, aerospace and defense sectors, leverages wireless tracking technologies to automatically locate and manage equipment and supplies required in petroleum exploration and production.

The SmartChain Enterprise Platform and Asset Management solution optimizes real-time data from passive and active RFID tags placed on assets, and, when combined with environmental sensors, can monitor the integrity of products.  Both fixed and mobile reader systems automatically locate and track the assets whether at rest or in-transit, which can be monitored, managed and analyzed almost instantly by the powerful SmartChain suite of capabilities.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin [ LMT], Savi is a leading provider of supply chain information and technology solutions and services.  These capabilities include real-time solutions based on active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and other Automatic Identification and Data Capture technologies that improve the visibility, management and security of supply chain assets, shipments and consignments.  For more information, visit www.savi.com.

SOURCE Savi Technology - Lockheed Martin

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