Page 52: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2019)

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TECH FILES Walk to Work

Safe Commuting Of shore

Confronting extreme environments he inherent risk associated with working in an offshore

Gangway systems are now widely used offshore in regions environment for oil, gas and wind energy production including the North Sea, West Africa, Gulf of Mexico and means transfer methods must fully consider and over- the Middle East. This is due to their cost-effectiveness, wider

Tcome challenges such as wind speed, sea state, visibil- ity, temperature and vessel movement to achieve the safe and operating window, and generally higher safety standards. In smooth transfer of personnel. In particular, operators and vessel April, the Dutch offshore service provider announced it had enabled the safe transfer of ? ve million people and 10 million owners are realizing the crucial safety and ef? ciency bene? ts that gangway systems, which connect a vessel to an asset, provide. kilograms of cargo worldwide.

The gangway technology employs six hydraulic cylinders

When compared to conventional methods such as rope swings, on a hexapod to measure and compensate for any vessel mo- it can deliver signi? cantly better safety, operating and cost ben- tion. It then quickly corrects mobility to ensure the system has e? ts, says offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann.

For the past decade, the Netherlands-based company has zero movement meaning smooth and comfortable journey to helped to enable the walk-to-work (W2W) movement through and from the workplace.

High sea states and extreme weather conditions and envi- its fully motion-compensated gangway systems. Inspired by aerospace technology, the unique hexapod technology was ronments can often cause costly delays for offshore personnel traveling by helicopter or rope and basket methods. The in- conceived based on the idea of a ? ight simulator turned up- side down. This is capable of measuring and compensating all novative motion compensation means the systems can be used in the harshest of environments.

six degrees of freedom of a moving vessel: surge, sway, heave,

The original A-type gangway can compensate up to 3 me- roll, pitch and yaw.

Ampelmann’s gangway systems can be used for transfers to both ? xed and ? oating installations.

Source: Ampelmann 52 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM