Bourbon

Bourbon Offshore Gaia has developed specific expertise in installation and maintenance activities during the oil and gas fields production phase.
In late 2007, Bourbon Offshore Gaia conducted surveys for the installation of some one hundred rigid or flexible subsea connections, the installation of more than fifty subsea well heads and the replacement of control umbilicals.

Research: professionalism and safety

In order to conduct operations onboard the maintenance vessels, Bourbon Offshore is engaged in project management and research in the following areas:

• In installation, in stowing and securing special packages.
• Special equipment for assistance with installation.
• Lifting including hydrodynamic calculations due to vessel movement.
• The laying of pipelines on existing subsea equipment or platforms.

Placing safety at the heart of quality and performance, Bourbon Offshore Gaia also offers risk analysis, one of the 4 fundamental principles of the BOURBON Safety Management System.
Thus Bourbon Offshore Gaia analyses internally the risks associated with the operations conducted by the vessels in its fleet and conducts analyses of the risks incurred by clients in the context of specific operations, so as to keep them at a minimum.

The teams of Bourbon Offshore Gaia: skills and ongoing training

The teams of qualified engineers and technicians carry out the following tasks:

• Research (CAO design, calculations, drafting of procedures).
• Preparing equipment and operations.
• Performing offshore projects.
• Feedback on their experience.

Bourbon Offshore Gaia always strives for excellence by means of feedback in order to improve the quality of procedures and equipment as well as the definition of new vessels.

In addition to their theoretical training, the technicians and engineers receive training in the field onboard BOURBON vessels, working with operations managers, seamen, deck hands or robot pilots.

Design of specific equipment – control over the entire chain

In the realm of subsea equipment maintenance, it is sometimes necessary to design specific equipment for one or more operations. As such, Bourbon Offshore Gaia has a research department for equipment design.

With the consolidation of DNT Offshore, Bourbon Subsea Services is now able to offer technical solutions for subsea robotic interventions.

At sea, the Operations Manager, working with the Captain, manages inspections, maintenance and repair work.

Bourbon Offshore Gaia provides its clients with an integrated management team composed of the Bourbon Offshore Gaia Operations Manager and the Bourbon Offshore Captain), who manage the unique risks together (Captain/operations manager). The work performed is generally done on producing fields, which present multiple risks; thus communication between the captain and the operations manager is essential.

The operations manager in close coordination with the captain:

• Prepares detailed procedures
• Prepares work permits
• Informs the charterer or the client of operations as they are conducted
• Coordinates preliminary operational meetings
• Coordinates the deck crew (deck officer, crane operators, etc.)
• Positions the vessel based on operations with the bridge officer
• Coordinates and directs the subsea robots for operations or inspections
• Prepares inspection and end-of-mission reports

He may be assisted by a second operations manager or a project engineer depending on the complexity of the operations. A safety manager generally assists him to prevent risks during operations.

The operations manager onboard the maintenance vessels follows up on the program set by the oil company. He manages inspections in coordination with the ROV teams.

In the case of maintenance vessels under long-term charters, Bourbon Offshore Gaia also does follow-up and comparison among the different inspections in order to determine trends in subsea equipment, for example:

• FPSO anchoring line cables
• Cathode protection of the different subsea elements
• Pipelines, control umbilicals

During the development phase of the field remaining after the field comes on stream, Bourbon Offshore keeps the field’s layouts updated as the Bourbon vessel installs the equipment.

The layouts are kept updated onboard the vessel and onshore in order to provide the bridge officers and the ROV team an understanding of the subsea and surface architecture.

In order to improve operations and vessel definitions, Bourbon analyzes the type of use and the utilization rates, the different lifting devices and faults in subsea equipment. At the client’s request, feedback on the different exploitation phases of an oil field can be produced.

Regarding surface platform maintenance vessels, Bourbon Offshore Gaia assists in defining specific equipment interfaces for:

• Well stimulation vessels
• Test well and storage vessels
• Drilling assistance vessel

Bourbon Offshore Gaia also does risk and installation surveys for clients wishing to install specific equipment (product storage, drilling maintenance pump, etc.) on special vessels. With their expertise, they can guarantee the vessel’s classification and flag authority will be maintained, once the changes are made on the vessel.

During the design phase of IMR vessels, Bourbon Offshore Gaia conducts consultations and defines specific equipments:

• Hoisting methods (crane, winch).
• Fitting the bridge to optimize positions related to the equipment (ROV, crane, winch, mobile installation assistance equipment).
• Fitting of holds and defining the different kinds of products transported (type, volume, density, etc.).
• Communications system between crane operators, ROVs, the bridge and the operations center.
• Defining the maximum number of people onboard and fitting the living quarters, operations and meeting rooms, etc.
• Electrical, hydraulic or air supply for the different pieces of equipment that may be used onboard the vessels.

Multipurpose vessels are defined that can adapt quickly to different kinds of missions, while being economical:

• Support of one or more subsea robots.
• Diving support.
• Support for the laying of cables, flexible cables or small diameter pipe.
• Well stimulation support.
• Drilling support.
• Support for surface platform maintenance.
• Support in the event of a health or fire emergency on the oil fields.
• Transporting packages of varying sizes.

During the construction phase, Bourbon Offshore Gaia supervises the cranes and winches and other specific equipments, makes certain onboard vessel communications systems are put in place as well as interfaces with any mobile equipment used.

By defining the vessels suited to the needs of clients, Bourbon Offshore Gaia can transport equipment completely reliably with the greatest respect for safety rules, and offers its clients more productivity and efficiency in their operations.