The system was developed in partnership with Bourbon Offshore Norway and Ulstein Design following an invitation last year from the oil company Statoil inviting offshore players to develop solutions for safe anchor handling operations.

The challenge involved identifying all hazardous anchor handling operations and developing a safer alternative for each.

One such hazardous operation is capturing a pennant wire being winched down from a platform. The operation is currently performed by a crew member balancing on the stern roller while trying to capture the wire with a boat hook. In the context of the partnership, Ulstein Design designed a new form of stern ramp and modified it to fit the hull while ODIM developed the ramp farther and modified the hydraulic equipment.

The ramp can be tilted at both ends and can be deployed both horizontally and vertically.

When the pennant wire is to be captured, the ramp is deployed five degrees over the vertical so that it hangs over. From the ramp a hydraulically steered pennant catcher is deployed with a 'T' shaped capture hook. . The platform's crane operator moves the wire into the 'T' hook which is then retracted into the ramp and the pennant wire secured.

Once the pennant wire has been secured, the anchor can be winched up to the stern roller.

From this position an enormous amount of power is needed to drag the anchor over the stern roller. If the cable breaks during this operation, enormous forces are released. Bourbon Offshore Norway found it important to eliminate these forces, which is where the special ramp again comes into its own, replacing the traditional stern roller on anchor handling vessels. As the anchor chain is raised, the ramp is again deployed five degrees over the vertical. When the anchor reaches the top of the ramp, it hangs freely in the air and is then pushed forward in over the deck and the trailing edge is raised until it lies over the horizontal. This causes the anchor to come in right over the deck without having to use the forces necessary to drag it over the edge.

The SAHS system also addresses the uncoupling of the anchor from the chain, positioning equipment and loads on deck, and capturing buoys.

ODIM's managing director Jogeir Romestrand said, 'Remotely controlling many of the deck operations and automated solutions contribute to far safer working conditions for crews.'

MJ Information No: 20779