Frequently asked questions
Our team understand your challenges – we know budgets are restricted and timescales are tight and can help you reduce risk, lower costs and make more informed decision. Our purpose is to help you liquidate any offshore maintenance backlogs by utilising our experience and track record in project management, engineering, marine & logistics to help you achieve your Walk to Work objectives.
We are committed to a mission of sustainability at a corporate, culture and policy level. We hold ourselves accountable to being proactive and solution-oriented in the effort to advance sustainable, long-term growth in the world in which we live.
By engaging with stakeholders (including our clients), we do our part to improve today’s environmental and societal challenges and better serve our community.
ESG benefits realisable through working with W2W Solutions include:
– Reducing our energy consumption, water usage, waste disposal and carbon footprint in a practical and cost-effective manner.
– We promote working relationships based on mutual respect free of discrimination or harassment of any kind.
– Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics demands high standards of integrity and ethics for all those working with or for W2W Solutions including Directors, Officers, Employees, Contractors and Suppliers.
Our expertise and support will be tailored to your requirements – we are not an asset owner so provide an unbiased and informed offering that fits the requirements for your campaign. We work with your Walk to Work in-house team to support the objectives of your project. Utilising our ADD™ (Analyse, Design, Deliver) methodology and process we will integrate into your team and provide the additional expertise you need for a successful offshore campaign.
Being independent of any asset owner is key to why we exist and what we’re about. Asset owners typically want to achieve the highest rates for as long as possible which is clearly not aligned with the clients best interests. W2W Solutions is different: we recognise that cost management & efficiency is important. Being independent means we are not biased to any particular asset type solution and will always seek to (a) recommend the best way of achieving any campaign objective and (b) scour the market to get the best price(s) for you.
Many offshore assets find their activities constrained by the onboard bed space available. The Covid pandemic has exacerbated the situation resulting today in many Operators finding themselves with significant maintenance backlogs that cannot be reduced substantially due to these constraints. W2W Solutions can help to provide extra people on board offshore assets to liquidate any significant maintenance backlog. We have experience in providing additional POB capacity via helicopter shuttling, specialist Walk to Work vessels, flotels or jack-up accommodation rigs and will recommend what we believe is right for you. Tackling maintenance backlog activities can both protect base production and support strategies to enhance production recovery, please contact us to find out more.
Walk to Work industry guide
An explanation of some of the terms we use
Walk to Work
A generic term applied for providing additional personnel on board (POB) to an offshore facility via a gangway from a vessel or flotel connected alongside the asset. Walk to Work facilitates the transfer of people from the accommodation vessel safely & efficiently to perform work duties at the offshore facility and also provides catering, recreation & accommodation facilities for these personnel when not working.
Walk to Work Vessel
A Walk to Work vessel is generally a purpose-built vessel designed to provide additional personnel on location offshore. It holds position using a dynamic positioning system (usually DP3) and connects to the host installation with a motion compensating gangway. This specialist piece of equipment adjusts for 6 different types of movement (*) which then provides a stable gangway transfer for those transferring from the Walk to Work vessel to the offshore platform, rig or FPSO. The Walk to Work vessel generally only comes alongside the platform, rig or FPSO when personnel transfers are required (e.g. beginning & end of working day). It will generally go out of the platform, rig or FPSO’s 500m safety zone when not required alongside. As the Walk to Work vessel is not moored to the seabed or offshore facility, it is suitable to work in any water depth. POB capacity is generally in the 40 – 120 range.
Accommodation Jack-Up
Similar to a flotel, a jack-up accommodation barge or rig is moored alongside the host platform or rig for the duration of the project or campaign work-scope(s). Again, the jack-up accommodation rig or barge is connected to the host platform via a rigid gangway. The main difference between a flotel and a jack-up accommodation rig or barge is that a jack-up accommodation barge or rig has legs that are positioned on the seabed. For that reason, they are most suitable for shallow-medium water depths (10m – 120m). They typically can accommodate up to 160 personnel. Again, as a jack-up accommodation rig or barge is moored to the seabed, it is not suitable for FPSO support as an FPSO weather-vanes (moves on its axis).
Flotel
A flotel is a purpose-built accommodation rig that provides up to 440 additional bed-spaces at an offshore installation. A flotel is generally of a semi-submersible design and moors alongside the host installation for the duration of the work-scope(s). The flotel is connected to the host platform via a rigid gangway and workers transfer to/from the flotel/host-platform via this gangway. The flotel provides, catering, recreation & accommodation facilities for those on board. Flotels are generally used to support installations in deep-water (100m+). As a flotel is moored to the seabed, it is not suitable for FPSO support as an FPSO weather-vanes (moves on its axis).
Motion Compensated Gangway
A motion compensating gangway is what is used to connect a dynamically positioned Walk to Work vessel to an offshore platform, rig or FPSO to facilitate the safe & efficient transfer of personnel to and from the vessel to the offshore facility. The motion compensating gangway constantly calculates and adjusts for the following types of vessel movement including pitch, heave, sway, yaw, surge and roll.
There are several manufacturers of these types of gangways and choosing the right one is a key decision in any walk-to-work project. Considerations will include things such as location, access height, anticipated sea-states etc.
Helicopter Shuttling
Helicopter-shuttling is, as the name suggests, a process of shuttling workers to & from the worksite by helicopter at the beginning and the end of a working day. The workers may be getting shuttled a relatively short distance (e.g. from a neighbouring rig or platform) or may be shuttling over quite considerable distances (e.g. from Aberdeen or Sumburgh).
Helicopter-shuttling may be perceived as an easier and lower cost option than chartering a flotel, jack-up accommodation platform or a dedicated Walk to Work vessel but there are many issues with helicopter shuttling such as:
Availability of helicopters to shuttle workers to/from the work location
Much reduced wrench-time per shift due to
(a) shorter times at the location
(b) workers having to remove/don survival suits at beginning/end-of-shifts
(c) POB constraints at host location due to lifeboat capacity
(d) inability to fly during fog, high sea states, triggered lightning conditions etc.
Worker fatigue from helicopter shuttling resulting in
(a) a higher safety risk attributable to worker fatigue
(b) less productive time when actually working
(c) additional “non-work” days to allow workers to rest & recuperate after a set number of days of being shuttled to/from the work location.
Heavier workloads for host location deck crew which then has knock-on restrictions on other marine & aviation operations.
For most host locations, a heavier workload for heli admin and medics.
W2W Solutions will consider helicopter shuttling as an option for your campaign and compare costs and available wrench time versus flotel, jack-up accommodation rig and dedicated W2W vessel options. Walk to Work Solutions has experience of each of these methodologies and are hence well placed to advise on the optimal solution to meet your campaign objectives.