With its fleet of marine heavy transport vessels, Red Box Energy Services relies on ABB Ability™ Marine Advisory System – OCTOPUS to optimize the safety and performance of operations.
“OCTOPUS is an industry-accepted standard,” says Rinse van Lievenoogen, Chief Technical Officer at Red Box Energy Services, a company that provides marine transportation solutions for leading engineering, production and construction companies such as TechnipFMC, JGC Corporation, KBR and Chiyoda.
On the shore side in Rotterdam, Red Box Energy Services uses the OCTOPUS-Office software suite to predict motions and accelerations at sea. The solution helps estimate the expected forces that the cargo will encounter in transit. “Most important for us is, obviously, the motion behavior of the ship and its cargo,” says Van Lievenoogen, adding that ABB’s solution lets his team quickly assess whether the crew on board took the necessary actions during changing weather.
On the vessel side, the company utilizes the OCTOPUS-Onboard decision support solution to predict motions and forces and avoid unfavorable weather conditions that could have a negative impact on the vessel and its cargo. Combining navigation and weather data, vessel characteristics, loading conditions and other relevant parameters such as speed and course, ABB’s software generates a motion forecast. The forecast helps define maximum allowable motions, presenting this data in a single-screen view on the bridge.
According to Van Lievenoogen, the synergy between OCTOPUS-Office and OCTOPUS-Onboard is “really valuable to Red Box Energy Services.” “It is something that alternative suppliers cannot offer,” he adds.
Van Lievenoogen recalls a particularly challenging operation where OCTOPUS software has helped prevent vessel and cargo damage. “Sailing of the coast of Norway, we encountered severe weather conditions. OCTOPUS helped us to optimize our route, and we were able to reach a safe haven. As you would imagine, the importance towards our clients is to have the modules delivered in a safe and sound condition.”
Last year, Red Box Energy Services upgraded to the latest version of the software, OCTOPUS-Onboard 8. Van Lievenoogen points out improved user experience and enhanced dashboard customization features. He says that the latest version makes it possible to better visualize all the information relevant to the company in a single-screen overview. “The overall look and feel of the system has improved tremendously, resulting in a more intuitive user experience,” says Van Lievenoogen.
Van Lievenoogen highlights the support that Red Box Energy Services is continuously receiving from ABB – not only related to technical questions, but also for theoretical discussions. “We appreciate that ABB is able to give feedback on specific hydrodynamic topics,” he says. “This way, we are able to rely on the expertise of ABB specialists to solve theoretical challenges encountered during our daily operation.”
Source: ABB