Metocean services and solutions

Offshore oil and gas

Where will our knowledge take you? Contents 1: Metocean Statistics and Data
2: Metocean Design Criteria
1 2 3

and Operability
With over 30 years of experience and a rich heritage of marine research, we 4
3: Forecast Services
apply our understanding of the marine environment to reduce risk, whilst
4: Vessel Response Consultancy
minimising costs in challenging engineering projects.

We offer analysis and prediction BMT invests in its people and the Striving for service excellence, all
of the metocean conditions that development of the company to BMT companies implement and
can be customised according provide solutions to customer maintain management systems
to our clients requirements. requirements in a technology compliant with internationally
This can range from a simple driven environment. As a recognised standards covering
statistical assessment of the company founded on the core health and safety, quality and
sea state to support an offshore principle of innovation; pioneering environmental management,
pipe-lay operation to complex research and development is key in line with the BMT Group
studies supporting feasibility, to BMT’s success. Operating as Ltd. accreditation to ISO9001,
detailed engineering and vessel an Employee Benefit Trust affords ISO14001 and OHSAS18001.
manoeuvrability assessment us the opportunity for equitable
during site selection and distribution of rewards, ensuring
development of an LNG terminal. staff engagement and our
independence.

BMT metocean information BMT metocean services are used

throughout the life-cycle of marine
provides solutions to: infrastructure developments in offshore
• Assess the marine environment and and coastal regions worldwide. To provide
metocean risks during initial exploration these services BMT maintains over
30 years of extensively validated in-house
• Increase asset availability by
global archives of modelled and observed
eliminating unnecessary weather
metocean data. This allows BMT to
downtime
provide customers with a rapid turnaround
• Assess the operability & safety of of metocean data to gain a better
floating and fixed structures during understanding of the marine environment
design at their site of interest throughout the
world.
• Support subsea pipeline feasibility and
engineering studies, including scour
assessments
• Support effective transport &
installation of offshore assets
Our metocean operability assessment
• Study vessel manoeuvrability in services provide insight into the risks
terminal design and tanker offloading
operations
associated with marine operations.
Metocean statistics and data
Percentage Exceedence Level Metocean data is vital in the
reduction of weather downtime
Min. 90% 70% 50% 30% 10% 5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% Max
Jan 0.49 0.89 1.11 1.35 1.59 2.01 2.3 2.78 3.25 3.35 3.35
BMT’s extensive metocean databases based on over 30 years of hindcast Feb 0.45 0.82 0.93 1.25 1.69 1.87 2.3 2.45 2.80 2.99 2.99
Mar 0.35 0.52 0.74 0.96 1.23 1.64 2.3 2.13 2.15 2.20 2.20
modelling calibrated with satellite altimeter observations, coupled with in-house Apr 0.45 0.91 1.50 1.76 1.89 2.11 2.3 2.31 2.37 2.43 2.43
knowledge and experience and in-situ measurements of working in the marine May 0.21 0.35 0.69 0.89 1.15 1.25 2.3 1.85 2.05 2.15 2.15
Jun 0.19 0.34 0.55 0.82 0.93 1.16 2.3 1.47 1.59 1.89 1.89
environment are used to derive site-specific metocean statistics and identify Jul 0.35 0.41 0.96 1.21 1.35 1.69 2.3 2.11 2.35 2.54 2.54
Aug 0.17 0.27 0.59 0.67 107 1.29 2.3 2.09 2.40 2.54 2.54
operational risks. Sep 0.38 0.55 0.78 1.24 1.35 1.63 2.3 1.96 2.25 2.59 2.59
Oct 0.45 0.92 1.18 1.29 1.38 1.89 2.3 2.78 3.01 2.59 2.59
Nov 012 0.38 0.75 0.89 1.37 1.68 2.3 2.05 2.58 2.59 2.59
Dec 0.18 0.34 0.82 1.15 1.68 1.79 2.3 2.69 2.97 3.15 3.15

Significant Wave Height for Given Percentage Exceedence

Safe operational working limits for weather the ideal location, alignment, layout and
BMT metocean statistics and sea state, and the number of working mooring facilities. Using BMT metocean
hours required for the completion of each data, a 25-year simulation of operations
and data support:
phase of a project may be provided in a was conducted which identified the
short turnaround from existing data sets, operational downtime, cargo transfer and
• Regional metocean climatology
thus providing valuable information to cargo storage requirements during this
assessment
operators and installation contractors’ period. The study also confirmed that,
• Weather windows and persistence during the construction and operation of given an adequate configuration of the
analysis to assess risk of marine marine structures. terminal, no breakwater needed to be
operations built to achieve acceptable longevity and
By customizing metocean services to
• Rig selection and site specific operational conditions.
the requirements of a customer, BMT
operability assessment can provide detailed information about
the local climatology, determine the Operability at an
• Feasibility studies for early
assessment of project finance and probability of occurrence of suitable offshore site, Brazil
concept design weather windows, assess the likely hood An offshore contractor needed to assess
of extreme events occurring in the area the operability at a site offshore Brazil for
• Workability assessment and and provide an assessment of an assets, a series of heavy lift operations. BMT was
planning of marine infrastructure performance in the marine environment able to assist by providing a hindcast of
installation throughout its lifetime. full 2-D wave spectra. The data provided
• Heavy lift operations and pipe-lay Where insufficient existing data are enabled the customer to analyse various
available to meet a design or operational different scenarios in-house enabling
• Weather forecasting to support
need, BMT can support design and assessment of the response of the
tow route and marine transport
execution of a metocean measurement vessel to local wave climate and the risks
operations
campaign to obtain additional site specific involved with the operation.
• Assessment of FPSO performance data.
and offloading operations Operability at Makassar
• Vessel manoeuvring simulation Operability at a Marine Straits, Indonesia
studies to study terminal Terminal, Caribbean Pearl Oil’s development of a new oil
operability BMT carried out a study of the feasibility and gas field in the Makassar Straits
• Marine forensic incident of placing an unsheltered LNG Marine required the design of a 350km pipeline
investigation Terminal in the Caribbean. This involved to deliver the products to land facilities
conducting an evaluation of arrival and safely and with minimum risk and
departure manoeuvres as well as the detailed criteria study. BMT completed
behaviour of the ship at berth. a metocean measurement campaign
1 2 to gather the data needed to support
In-house developed Simulation Software the pipeline design.
(REMBRANDT) was used to determine
3 4

1: Example of maximum wave height for a month

in 2011 from the global model

2: Wind speed and direction of a storm from the

global model with overlaid satellite observation

3: Operability at a Marine Terminal, Carribean.

4: Operability at an offshore site, Brazil.

 1 Design Criteria Our understanding of the metocean
processes and conditions that influence
sector). The gas field was situated in
approximately 115m water depth. This Metocean Design
the design and operation of the marine study involved a detailed comparison Criteria Services
Metocean information is essential for the safe and infrastructure necessary to facilitate oil of multiple hindcasts generated from a
Support:
and gas developments is based on selection of in-house and commercially
2 3 economical design of a marine facility, from the initial • Feasibility and Site Selection
extensive experience in the industry. available modelling tools, in-situ
concept feasibility assessment through to the final detailed BMT maintains an suite of proprietary measured (Wave buoys) and satellite Assessment
1: Gas Field Development (Norwegian Sea). design. Using in-house historical metocean databases, software for the quality control, statistical data (Altimeter and Scatterometer).
• Preliminary Design Criteria
analysis, extreme value extrapolation The final product was a comprehensive
2: The strategy for the metocean basis for tailored numerical modelling and data analysis expertise, and presentation of in-situ, modelled and metocean study involving basic extreme • Front End Engineering Design
design varies according to location, type of
BMT metocean advisors are able to assist in enabling the satellite observed metocean data to ISO criteria, environmental contours, wave Criteria Studies
structure and available data sets.
engineering standards. spreading and fatigue analyses, plus a
3: BMT metocean advisors are able to assist optimal design of vessels, sub-sea infrastructure, offshore • Terminal Access Channel
full suite of operational criteria presented
in enabling the optimal design of vessels, The requirements of a customer can and Manoeuvring studies
sub-sea infrastructure, offshore structures
structures and coastal facilities all over the world. range from general advice for location
in tabular and graphical engineering
formats, e.g. wind roses, scatter plots. • Breakwater and Terminal Layout
and coastal facilities all over the world. selection during the pre-feasibility phase
The pre–project and Basic Engineering Design
of a development through to the detailed
(“FEED”) is now completed and the
metocean criteria required for Front End • Mooring Layout Design Studies
customer is entering the detailed
Engineering Design (FEED).
engineering phase. Extension of this work • Scour Protection Design
The strategy for the metocean basis for provided additional criteria to cover the
• Pipeline Lay Out, Landfall
design varies according to location, type entire development of the field.
and Burial Design
of structure and available data sets. BMT metocean advisors are able to
support operators and engineers with a • Pipeline Free Span Analysis
Gas Field Development metocean strategy for any development,
offering straightforward customer focused
(Norwegian Sea) cost-effective desk studies to support the
The scope of this work was to evaluate early stages of a development, through
both extreme design and typical to complex modelling and derivation of
(ambient) operational criteria for a site the metocean extreme criteria tailored to
in the northern North Sea (Norwegian customer requirements. 
 Forecasting Services
BMT
utilises advanced forecast modelling at global, regional and local scales all
combined with satellite observations and in-situ real-time measurements to identify
We help our customers utilise suitable weather windows for marine operations. We are able to offer dedicated, fine
the full potential of available weather resolution atmospheric and deep water or shallow water wave models, capable of
capturing local metocean conditions and wave transformation effects resulting from the
windows, allowing them to reduce their local bathymetry or coastal topography.
operational risk and save time.

Coastal Forecast Services

Forecast services BMT provides forecast services to
are provided in the support the daily operations at an LNG
offshore and near-shore terminal in Yemen. The service has been
customised to optimise the operability
environments:
of the port facilities by minimizing the
• Meteorological forecasts number of days where operations are
halted due to unexpected conditions.
• Global 24/7 meteorological support Information provided for this site includes:
• Wave, current and water level • Offshore & near shore wave forecasts
forecasts
• Tidal elevation and current
• Spectral wave forecasts With the provision of dedicated site-
specific forecast services BMT helps • Residual currents
• Satellite imagery; including ice to optimise marine operations in all the • Warnings for Tropical storms, Tsunami’s
density studies world’s oil and gas basins. and other extreme events
• Tow route forecasts and hindcast Based on a history of involvement with • All forecast information is provided
studies environmental and emergency response using a dedicated web portal and via
• Tropical storm warning and tracking consultancy, BMT forecasters are able email.
services to integrate forecasts with emergency
response systems.
• On demand, as required forecast
services Forecast updates are provided up to four
times a day through various distribution
• Extended outlooks channels including email, phone briefing,
BMT forecasters support
• Dedicated fine resolution forecast fax and or a customer dedicated website. oil and gas operators and
modelling The forecast service is nested in an contractors with their day
established operational infrastructure to day operations;
• Forensic investigations based on which includes back-up facilities, data
hindcast data sets archives and software support, thus • Meteorological forecasts and
ensuring optimal forecast reliability. information on currents during
early seismic exploration
A team of experienced maritime
meteorologists provide additional forecast • Weather forecasts during rig
interpretation and specialist services such moves
as operational monitoring, warnings and • Site specific and forecasting
critical operation support. Fully certified support during weather critical
on-site meteorologists can support local operations, e.g. heavy lifts
interpretation for critical operations.
• Weather window identification
and forecasts for installation and
Java Sea construction
BMT is providing weather forecasts to
• Operational support for flaring,
an major oil company in the Java Sea.
maintenance and helicopter crew
Forecasts are being used to ensure
transfer operations
the safe transfer of crews to and from
offshore platforms and to optimise
operability and minimise risks due to
LNG terminal in Yemen. unexpected and unfavourable weather
Image is the property of Yemen LNG who have sole copy rights. conditions during drilling operations.
Vessel Consultancy Our experience with challenging marine
BMT provides consultancy services to evaluate the operability and safety of ships operations in critical conditions and our ability
and other vessels. The combination of BMT in-house naval architecture and offshore to simulate these, makes us a valuable partner
engineering knowledge, our in depth hydraulic expertise and metocean capabilities in the Oil and Gas sector.
enables an integrated approach to support the design, operability and assessment of
vessel performance in the offshore and terminal environment.

BMT has available a range of multi-body Tow Simulation

mooring software (both static and fully
Gulf of Mexico Vessel operations
dynamic) appropriate for any stage of the services provided:
design and can evaluate any offloading BMT was awarded a contract to provide
configuration (tandem or side-by-side, a Tow Simulation Service for the float • Assessment of conditions for safe
FPSO or Floating Liquefied Natural Gas out of an offshore structure in the Gulf arrival and departure of vessels
(FLNG), conventional or circular). This of Mexico and to test the feasibility of
a wet-tow operation. BMT engineered, • Establishment of mooring and
can include the determination of required berthing loads
horizontal access and the deter¬ministic installed and commissioned a purpose
and probabilistic depth determination of a built simulation facility which was located • Workability for loading and
port and or vessel. in Houston, Texas for the purpose of unloading operations
training tug captains and other marine
Built on many years of experience in all personal involved with the inshore phase • Evaluation of the motion
aspects of vessel manoeuvrability, the of the tow. responses of FPSO, Tanker and
BMT vessel simulator REMBRANDT has LNG carriers during offloading
been developed to support a range of Included in the simulation was the ability
to control seven independent tug boats • Forensic investigation of marine
navigation and vessel manoeuvrability incidents
studies for offshore and terminal coupled via lines to the hull to perform
operations. REMBRANDT provides the the 15 mile tow. REMBRANDT’s real time • Detailed vessel manoeuvring
advantage of a real-time, flexible software manoeuvring training software was the simulation to validate and exercise
tool, allowing the design of anchor, basis for the simulator. The simulator critical operations
mooring lines and terminal configurations gave a realistic hands-on facility for
to be evaluated in simulated metocean tug captains to develop safe operating
conditions. strategies for the tow and develop
weather and tide operating limits.
Complex operations such as the motion
responses of an interacting FPSO and Marine Terminal Qatar
offloading tanker in severe metocean
conditions can be analysed by BMT BMT carried out a navigation simulation
consultants to determine criteria for study using REMBRANDT to evaluate
suspending offloading operations and the feasibility of a new proposed marine
tanker disconnection. terminal in Qatar. During the simulations
the Pilot controlled three purpose
Weather sensitive procedures for the designed vessels directly through a
installation of offshore structures can be control console replicating actual ship
simulated at the design and planning controls and issued appropriate tug
stages using BMT software to ensure a orders which were carried out by a
safe and cost effective execution. member of BMT staff. The Pilot had the
following information available in real-
1 time:
• The electronic chart view
• 3D view from the ship’s bridge

2 3 • Run information
• Position and percentage of power

1: Tanker offloading.
2: Tow simulation Gulf of Mexico.
3: REMBRANDT bridge simulator.
BMT is an international design, engineering and risk
management consultancy, working principally in the energy
and environment, transport and defence sectors.

With locations in all of the major markets we serve, ours is

an active network that sees us sharing skills and knowledge,
combining disciplines and building international teams to
create integrated answers to the questions of our national
and international customers.

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