January/February 2016 World Port Development 39

e n g i n e e r i n gp r o t e c t i n g y o u r a s s e t s

Jason Tieman, Oceaneering Director ofMaritime Solutions GDS/PortVisionexplains why protecting your assets in themaritime environment should be a top priority.

il and gas companies must optimise operational efficiency in an increasingly challenging environment, while paying

close attention to safety and security.Because vessel traffic can affect the safetyand security of their infrastructure, ownersof remotely owned assets in the maritimeenvironment are increasingly taking a moreproactive role in monitoring and respondingto perceived threats.When a vessel comes incontact with pipelines and other fixed infrastructure, the consequences can rangefrom unplanned and expensive surveys andrepairs, as well as major waterway closuresresulting in third party claims. It also cancause significant environmental impact leadingto a costly response and penalties, and insome cases may lead to injury and death.All of these consequences can result in reputational damage and lengthy post-incident

litigation.Automatic Identification System(AIS) data is extremely valuable for threatassessment and mitigation planning. Its usefor collision avoidance was born out of a2005 International Maritime Organisation(IMO) and U.S. Coast Guard mandate thatmost commercial vessels must continuouslytransmit AIS signals throughout global portsand inland waterways. Since then,AIS datahas been used to develop numerous toolsand solutions by all major oil companies as

well as marine service providers, vessel operators and government agencies as aninexpensive way to better understand vesselmovements globally. These solutions increasevisibility to real-time and historical commercialvessel traffic, and include activity-logging,process management, business analysis andreporting tools to provide a single operationaldashboard that improves the productivity,safety and efficiency of multiple assets and/orfleets.The United States Coast Guard is veryclear about the responsibility vessel operators bear in preventing collisions,including maintaining proper look-out procedures and using all available meansappropriate to the prevailing circumstancesand conditions to determine if risk of collisionexists, but what about operators that maintain infrastructure in the maritime environment? The technology now exists forowners and operators of fixed marine infrastructure to play a key role in the prevention of an incident, as well.They canactively collaborate with vessel operators oncollision avoidance by using analytical tools toassess AIS vessel position data and/or radarinformation.These solutions can be used tonot only pre-empt strikes before they occur,but to also achieve a more complete vulnerability picture to improved risk mitigation strategies.The first use of AIS as amethod to communicate safety information

directly to a vessel for marine asset protection was for a pipeline monitoring programlaunched in August 2015 by the Coastal andMarine Operators (CAMO) group in partnership with the Greater LaFourche PortCommission and Oceaneering.The CAMOinitiative uses Oceaneering’s PortVision AIS-based vessel-monitoring service to monitor and automatically alert vessel operators that might be slowing, stopping, oranchoring inside two NOAA charted pipelinecorridors north and south of Port Fourchonthat pass under its main navigable channel.This concept was made possible by deployingan AIS Aid to Navigation (ATON). These AISATONs can be associated with a real ATONthat is physically in the water or can be virtual, and are capable of transmitting safetymessages. Because AIS provides the ability to send messages to the unique MMSID assigned to the vessel’s AIS transponder, a vessel thatis maneuvering inside a monitored corridorin a way that could lead to a threat to thepipeline will trigger the transmission of analert message only to the wheelhouse of theencroaching vessel, warning its captain andcrew of the pipeline below. CAMO, in partnership with the Port Fourchon, was thefirst to use AIS ATONs in this way and hasbeen very pleased with the enhanced level ofawareness it has brought to vessels thatsometimes loiter in these corridors. Any

O

2013 settoon incident - photo courtesy of the USCG

Protecting your assets in the maritime environment

PortVision & Oceaneering are registered trademarks of Oceaneering International Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. www.portvision.com

A buoy ATON transmitting navigational information - photo courtesy of the USGG, 5th District

WPD-Jan16-articles 5/10/05 6:09 pm Page 24

World Port Development January/February 201640

e n g i n e e r i n g p r o t e c t i n g y o u r a s s e t s

organisation can apply for an AIS ATON fortheir pipeline or other fixed asset by simplygoing through an application process with theU.S. Coast Guard.At the same time thatalerts were being targeted at specific vesselsin these two Port Fourchon pipeline corridors,pipeline operators recognised they could bemonitoring their entire submerged pipelineinfrastructure for vessel activity.This gavetheir staff the ability to proactively investigatevessel activity that appeared to be a threat,based on triggered alerts to their pipelinemonitoring team. Historically, pipeline operators would only be aware of vesselactivity around their pipelines when theyconducted an overflight every few weeks, orafter there was already an impact.This proactivemonitoring by pipeline companies has alreadyresulted in multiple positive communicationswith vessels detected near a pipeline, whichotherwise might have resulted in a marinecasualty.The way pipeline operators use AISdata continues to evolve. For the first time,pipeline companies are able to truly assessthe amount of vessel traffic that is transitingover their pipelines and, in many cases, theyhave uncovered high-risk pipeline segmentsthat were previously believed to have minimal or no vessel traffic. By developing arisk matrix based on the pipelines’ depth ofcover, amount of vessel traffic, as well asinformation about vessel type and draft ofthe passing vessels, pipeline operators cangreatly improve their risk assessments and better target how maintenance funds shouldbe spent. Additionally, these companies spendthousands of dollars on outreach campaigns

that are sometimes focused on the wrongaudience. By assessing the historical vesseltraffic that interacts near their infrastructure,they can target their messaging not only to aspecific type of vessel, but can actually targetspecific vessels or fleet owners that representa consistent concern for their infrastructure.

In addition to AIS, it is important to considerincorporating other data sources, such asradar, into asset-monitoring solutions.Thisprovides a more complete picture of all vessels moving around marine infrastructureand ensures that even vessels that are nottransmitting AIS signals can be monitored todetermine if they appear to pose a threat.While the vessel can’t be alerted via AISATONs, they can at least be included in thetraffic picture and monitoring tools. Offshore

oil platforms are a great example of remoteassets that usually already have a radar thatcan be combined with the AIS informationfor an enhanced web-based vessel-monitoringsolution. Radar data is extracted at its sourceand converted into a National MarineElectronics Association (NMEA) format thatcan be processed jointly with AIS vessel datainto a live display.All unidentified targets canthen be monitored and displayed along withAIS data without repetitive or overlappingdata.This combined data feed allows theexisting tools to monitor for any encroachmentthat represents a threat to the asset, andtrigger the necessary alert. It similarly can bearchived for retrieval to provide playback forhistorical information and reporting. Oilcompanies and owners of fixed assets in themaritime environment are exposed to hundreds of vessels crossing and operatingnear their pipelines or infrastructure daily.

With an ongoing threat to the safe and secure operation of these assets, along withthe available technology to combat thesethreats, how can an operator not consolidatethe real-time visibility of all their assets intoone system that not only allows them to takepreventive steps as they are alerted of athreat, but can also replay or report on fiveyears of these vessel interactions? Finally,asset-protection tools and services also canplay a key role in improving policy and regulatory compliance.Any investigation of amaritime collision generally includes assessinga vessel’s use of “all available means” to“determine if a risk of collision exists.” Atsome point, incident investigators may askoperators of fixed assets a similar question:Are you using all the resources available toeffectively monitor the safety of your assetsand the environment in which you operate?

Adding radar data

CAMO’s and PortFourchon’s AIS safety signal alert was the first of its kind to be transmitted directly to a vessel’s warehouse

Pipeline maps are incorporated into the vessel-tracking tool and alerting parameters and criteria are developed and built in to the asset protection solution

WPD-Jan16-articles 5/10/05 6:10 pm Page 25