Sustainable Solutions: Walking to Work in the Middle East

The introduction of Walk to Work (W2W) has permanently transformed the nature of the global offshore energy sector. In a rapidly changing energy infrastructure, it has become crucial to maximise efficiencies, maintain the highest safety standards and reduce the environmental impact of offshore operations. As one of the early pioneers of W2W, Ampelmann is building and designing motion compensated gangways that extend weather windows, increase workability and provide safe access to offshore installations. In just fifteen years, the company has grown from a spin-off of the Technical University in Delft to an international organisation with a large fleet that operates in all corners of the world. As W2W offers significant advantages over traditional offshore access solutions, it has become a key area of innovation in the modern offshore service industry.

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W2W in the Middle East

Fast becoming the new industry standard, W2W has much to offer to the Arabian Gulf. The region contains the largest offshore hydrocarbon reserves in the world and the exploration, production and maintenance of offshore assets is growing consistently with the rising demands for energy. Because Ampelmann’s marine based W2W solutions are cost-effective and provide reliable access during offshore operations, they are a powerful and effective alternative to traditional access solutions.

Sea conditions in- and around the Arabian Gulf are variable and can be surprisingly harsh in some parts of the region during certain times of the year. Especially during the winter months, when rough seas and strong winds are a frequent occurrence, reduced weather windows lead to downtimes and inefficiencies during offshore campaigns. Because motion compensated gangways remain stable during offshore operations, they can operate throughout the year and provide safe and consistent access to offshore installations despite seasonal constraints. By reducing the time vessels are unable to transfer personnel due to bad weather, W2W solutions can extend weather windows and shorten the duration of campaigns, resulting in increased operational efficiency and year-round productivity.

Since the company’s first operations in the region over twelve years ago, more than 1,200,000 people have been transferred for national and international clients in Qatar, Dubai, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, and more recently in Abu Dhabi. Ampelmann’s A-types and L-types already see frequent use in the Middle East and have become a testament to the types of efficiencies motion compensated systems can bring to the offshore energy sector. Ampelmann is deeply involved in the regional market, with offices in Qatar and Dubai, it can deploy and mobilise its systems at short notice, whenever and wherever they are needed. W2W solutions provide effective operational support throughout the entire lifecycle of offshore assets and provide increased flexibility during campaigns. Since its first operation in the Gulf, the company has successfully facilitated short and long-term campaigns, ranging from general operations, such as crew change and maintenance, to installations, shutdowns and decommissioning work.

The Future of W2W

Ampelmann prides itself for its innovative spirit and is building and designing new sustainable access solutions that suit the specific needs of the regional market. Through the introduction of new electric systems, clever use of digital services and the reduction of its carbon emissions, the company is building the foundations of W2W’s future.

The coming years will see the electrification of the entire A-type fleet, Ampelmann’s flagship system. With the use of regenerative electric technology, the hydraulic pressure on the hexapod can be fed back into the system. The result is a system with a very low carbon footprint that consumes 90 percent less energy. The first electric A-types have already been commissioned in the field, and a variation of this system, the S-type, currently sees use on the Aqua Helix, a prizewinning fast crew change vessel that supplies on demand offshore access in the North Sea. As the S-type is fully integrated, it is lighter than the regular A-type, making it ideally suited to be fixed on smaller DP vessels that are prevalent in regions such as the Arabian Gulf.

Alongside the electrification of its most popular system, Ampelmann has introduced new gangway designs that are specifically tailored to meet the evolving needs of its clients. An example of this is the newly designed F-type, a cost-effective modular gangway that is height-adjustable, easy to mobilise and enables the continuous transfer of personnel in sea states up to 2.5m Hs. Like the electric A- and S-type, the system uses electric recuperation to store and reuse energy from the vessels motions. Its modular containerised design allows for greater operational flexibility as it can be transported much more cost effectively and adjusted in between projects. Designed specifically for a large variety of vessels, the system has a 21m gangway that is perfect for a variety of work scopes in maritime conditions like those in the Arabian Gulf and Asia Pacific.

Together with the electrification of its systems and the introduction of specialised fully electric gangways, Ampelmann offers robust product service alignments. All its customers can benefit from the advantages of 24/7 support through the Operation Control Center (OCC) and Ampelmann Insights - a data tracking tool that provides workability forecasts and enables the company to track carbon emissions during offshore operations. This allows Ampelmann, as well as its clients, to be extremely focused on the potential energy savings that can be made and leads to the identification of new ways to reduce environmental footprints further down the line. In 2020 the company cut almost half of its carbon emissions and by measuring all emissions throughout the entire value chain and offsetting those that currently cannot be accounted for through the electrification of its systems and improvement of onshore and offshore ecological footprints, Ampelmann became 100 percent carbon neutral in 2020.

Continuous innovation lies at the heart of Ampelmann and through the introduction of electric regenerative technology, modularity, and strong product-service alignments, Ampelmann retains its focus on the future. W2W is ideally positioned in the Arabian Gulf as the safest, most sustainable and cost-effective offshore access solution that simultaneously requires consistency and high workability. By enabling continuous access throughout the year, W2W provides significant advantages over traditional access methodologies due to the motion compensated technology that underpins it. By understanding what is important to regional markets, Ampelmann has gained significant traction throughout the world and continues to have a marked impact on the safety and efficiency of offshore operations.

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