To be sustainable means that the offshore terminal is designed, engineered and managed in such a way that it favours longevity over short-term burn-out. But how does one design, build and operate an offshore terminal with long-term goals in mind?
There is no prescribed one-size-fits-all solution, but in the past 50 years, MARSOL has developed a method that can be applied to both greenfields and brownfields projects. This method helps to find the right solution for each individual terminal, taking into account its risks, OpEx, efficiency and overall goals.
Every business and its terminals are unique, and as such it is important to establish your company goals and fiduciary duties before optimisation or design begins. This type of data collection and analysis will help guide your minimum viable product and steer all actions with the big picture in mind.
Predicting terminal requirements for your long-term vision
Maintenance and preservation, for example, is a good place to start. MARSOL’s preservation practices ensure that the performance of the whole system is consistent throughout its working life. Data may reveal that a specific terminal faces more deterioration on its hoses than another. Adding routine inspections for this terminal will protect you from unforeseen events. Upgrading to a different hose manufacturer could also help you to lower OpEx in the long run.
Through applying integrity-based Inspection Repair and Maintenance (IRM) and creating a marine asset history, MARSOL can establish operations and maintenance philosophies specific to the terminal in question. By modifying associated work programmes periodically, the terminal can stay up to date and reflect changes brought about by any influencing factors and unusual events.
While collecting and analyzing data may take time and effort at first, it will soon become another normal part of project management and the rewards are worth it. By analyzing data collected over time, you will have the opportunity to review your current maintenance programme, identify areas of improvement and design changes on the system components to safely and economically optimise future activities and schedules. This type of long term commitment to optimisation and longevity will help you optimise related OPEX and lower risk.
What does it mean to align your offshore terminal with long term goals?
Lowering risk and OpEx are the first two things that come to mind when you think about the benefits of aligning your offshore terminal to long term goals, but it doesn’t stop there.
Understanding the fluctuating needs of your terminal will help you to prepare for them. This means that you will not overspend when there is low demand and you will not be under-resourced when there is an increase in demand. This type of planning will ensure that efficiency is applied to the right place at the right time.
In managing efficiency, you will also be able to establish the best times for optimisation such as training or major intervention. Planning for these events helps to prevent downtime by investing in reliability.
Reliability is directly linked to your income, but it is also linked to reputation and fiduciary duties are often overlooked. When your offshore terminal is aligned to a long-term vision and its risks minimised, unforeseen events are prepared for and their effects are often therefore well mitigated. By being reliable, you will instil trust with suppliers and clients, but also your teams and the communities affected.
Finally, with a long-term vision in mind, you will know where to invest CapEx and how to guarantee return on investment. Extending marine asset lifespan, for example can only be done responsibly when you have data at your side.
Where to start?
Aligning your offshore terminal to long-term goals starts with data. Get in touch with a reputable service provider who cares as much about your business as you do.
This service provider needs to be experienced in designing and operating terminals throughout its lifespan so that you know the future of your terminal is as well understood as its present and past.
As MARSOL is actively involved in all phases of the SPM life cycle (i.e. from the cradle to the grave), we are in a unique position to understand the typical points of failure over time. We value longevity and take a holistic approach to maximising the Asset’s service life, irrespective of whether MARSOL is contracted by Owners/Operators, Consultants, Contractors or others.
As a commercial and technical marine service solutions provider, MARSOL covers Engineering, Project Management, Operations & Maintenance, Inspection Repair & Maintenance (IRM) and Integrity management among other subsea and maritime services. This means that all influencing factors are taken into account when optimisation occurs.