Rotec was excited to be part of this year’s marine exhibition in Southampton, an event we have been returning to for over 10 years.
We shared our stand with our sister company – Ram Reman, the specialist in hydraulic cylinders who compliments Rotec’s core capabilities in the design, build, installation and maintenance of hydraulic, pneumatic and electronic systems.
This year Rotec decided to champion Parker Racor filtration products, offering 30% discount in honour of the event. Rotec and Parker have a long history of close partnership, with Rotec recently becoming the only Parker HTC (Hydraulic Technical Centre) in the South of UK. Stand Visitors could look forward to a game of ‘Can you guess where these Racor filtration elements are on our ship?’ with the chance to win small prizes, using a Parker IQAN unit incorporated into a lit up boat unit.
As always, we had a great time and we look forward to the next year!
In 2014, Rotec were invited to join Coastal Charters, a commercial maritime business based in West Cumbria, on the development of WaveAccess.
The project originally came as a response to an emerging trend within the offshore wind industry to move the construction further out into the sea. The company anticipated the industry’s need for a reliable vessel that would be faster and able to cope with the challenging conditions further offshore.
The goal of the project was to design and build a rapid crew transfer vessel that would be faster, safer and cheaper to run than the vessels in use, resulting in the pilot vessel: Tenacity
The radical new design allows for transport of passengers and crew with dramatically reduced fuel consumption at twice the speed, while maintaining safety, minimising motion sickness and improving comfort at up to 40 kts in seas in excess of 2m. The vessel can be used for crew transfers in industries such as oil & gas, offshore wind and construction, search and rescue, patrol, medivac, safety boat, to name a few.
See video of the vessel in action on WaveAccess website or YouTube channel
Thanks to Rotec’s extensive marine experience and previous control systems the company had developed for use on multi-hull jet vessels in the wind-farm support vessel industry we were invited to participate in this innovative project.
Andy Rimes, Rotec’s Technical Director outlines the project “Together with the team at WaveAccess and other specialists we developed a bespoke control system for the twin waterjet propulsion system to provide fully automated synchronised control of the jets, clutches, thrusters and main engines both in normal forward cruising modes and reverse facing tower operations.”
The electronic system is based on Parker Hannifin’s Iqan mobile controller and associated products. “As well as the electronic supervisory control and monitoring system we also completely re- equipped the Italian Castoldi waterjets hydraulic drive and control systems to provide fully proportional control electronically controlled from the Iqan system. This provides a smoother, more controllable and economic drive system. “
All design work and bench testing took place at Rotec’s premises in Taunton, with the installation, setup and sea trials carried out by Rotec engineers at Coastal Charters home in Cumbria.
It was a challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, experience to be involved with the development of a concept vessel such as this and we wish Stephen and all the crew and team at WaveAccess best of luck with their promotion of the successful and innovative vessel to the industry.
CGG Veritas and Rotec Hydraulics have a long history of working together.
CGG is a leader in cutting-edge geoscience. Their commitment to providing innovative and sustainable solutions has seen them crowned a leader in their field. The technology, services and equipment they provide is designed to collect data and images of the sub-surface with great precision. CGG help the oil and gas industry to develop a deeper understanding of the subsurface exploration via state-of-the-art software and data analysis services.
Rotec supplied the company with enormous power packs in past and, in 2010, was contracted again, this time to equip their seismic ship Oceanic Sirius with a bespoke air reduction panel. The large panel is designed to work with a system that maps the sea bed for oil industry. Using acoustic sources towed behind the ship to shoot out high frequency sound waves that bounce off of different layers of the seabed’s sub-surface and get picked up by hydrophones, working a bit like an ultrasound. This data is then recorded and interpreted, helping the experts to make informed decisions about new drilling locations.
The Rotec reduction panel is designed to routinely regulate between air pressure of 140 bar and 30 bar when not in use and was
Reduction Panel on Oceanic Sirius
manufactured in 2010, installed and commissioned on the ship in 2011, running smoothly until a major overhaul in January 2016, when the system had to go through its pressure equipment certification. The system performed great during the testing, but started having problems following the overhaul.
At first the capable CGG engineers were attempting to tackle the issue with Rotec’s telephonic guidance, but due to the nature of their jobs (12 hour shifts and swapping of engineering crews every 5 weeks with practically zero downtime), it was near impossible. They decided to contract one of Rotec’s engineers to repair the system. Claire Brown was scheduled to meet the ship in Barranquilla (Colombia) in September and after a 25 hour journey and a day’s wait she finally boarded the ship together with a group of contractors that were servicing and working on other parts of the ship.
This is what Claire had to say about the experience
“The hotel I was staying in was lovely, but I was advised not to venture outside. The government is currently building new infrastructure, but the city’s poverty is tangible as things stand at the moment. The relative luxury of the hotel was a stark contrast to what unravelled in front of me on our way to the port. I would have liked to see more of the city or the country of course, to form a more complete picture. The mosquito repellent I brought definitely came in handy; they were everywhere (laughing),”
After the initial compulsory ship orientation, Claire got shown to the Chief mechanic, and by 3pm she identified and repaired the problem. However they could not test the system while the ship was still docked, as the air powered guns used to blast out the acoustic waves go off rather loudly. Once out at sea the system performed well and Claire spent additional 5 days on board of Sirius going through their kit, and making sure they had everything they needed, ordering additional items.
Claire says “I quite like going off to places and seeing how other people live, but also I like working with different people. The crew was made up of many different nationalities (British, Canadian, Norwegian, Lithuanian, French, Spanish, Filipino and American). These guys are working such long hours, live in a restricted space but they get on so well, it was pretty inspirational. They make light of the stereotypes, for example they dubbed me as the ‘posh’ one, because of my british accent (laughs)”
Update: Claire has been back for a couple of months and there have been no problems with the system. We are looking forward to offering our marine expertise to the company in future.
“Creating history, not recreating it” were the words of Professor Martin Attrill, Director of the Marine Institute at Plymouth University. Certainly a cause worth striving for by the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) makers.
At the end of October we were invited to attend a launch of a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise some of the £10 million needed to turn this beautiful design into reality. Rotec are going to join the adventure by making a donation but also contributing with their expertise, lending their engineers to the project, and becoming one of the main suppliers.
The benefits of this donation include:
Mayflower Autonomous Ship
* Witnessing the arrival of the MAS400 (flight provided). * Thanks across our social media platforms, website and automatic registration to receive the monthly newsletter. * A signed letter of thanks from the MAS team on watermarked paper. * A Mayflower 400 T Shirt & entry to the exclusive draw where the winner will get VIP ticket (reward price £1000) to the launch of the Mayflower 400 in 2020. *Rotec’s name ‘on board’ *A tour of the MAS to include signed photograph. * Exclusive invitation to the MAS champagne hosted reception/unveiling. * Exclusive invitation to the VIP Launch of the MAS 2020.
Listen to what Radio Plymouth and some of the attendees had to say about the event (comment from Rotec’s own Dave Nance at 1:50):
The research vessel is projected to sail in 2020, celebrating 400 years since the pilgrims set off of the shores of Plymouth for the New World. The project is more than just a leap of faith. It is a well-researched (ad)venture potentially benefiting a number of industries, virtually catapulting the marine industry into 21st century. Needless to say Rotec are truly excited to be a part of this project.
Plymouth university, MSubs , ProMare and Shuttleworth Design, teamed up to build the third Mayflower “ushering us into a new phase of oceanographic and climatological research with state-of-the-art technology.” (Brett Phaneuf, Managing Director – MSubs)
The estimated vessel length is 32.5 meters, with top speed of 12.5 knots. But speed is not the goal here, as Orion Shuttleworth reminds us, “The design is focused on the ship’s ability to conduct a variety of scientific researches, being powered by renewable energy”
Mayflower Autonomous Ship
Paddy Dowsett – Project Manager, MSubs says:
“This project brings a number of new technologies together in a way that hasn’t been done before. There are some smaller autonomous crafts in existence, however nothing anywhere near this scale in terms of size and technicality.”
The Earl and Countess of Devon also spoke at the event, explaining why Plymouth is the perfect place for the project.
“Plymouth has served as the last stop for ships before setting off on a long journey for centuries. It has always been a unique place with the capacity to supply the necessary skills, stock and supplies to help adventurers through their treacherous journeys.”
The launch is expected to shine a spotlight on the coastal city, attracting a lot of public interest within the UK and the USA.
Rotec were proud to be associated with this year’s Brixham Trawler race. The race took place on 18th June 2016 in Brixham,the trawler race is the highlight in the ports year and celebrates its maritime excellence. Boats are dressed with bunting and battle it out with a race around the bay. The event is held annually to raise money for local charities, in 2015 over £21,000 was raised. Donations in the past have been made to various charities these include: Brixham’s Fisherman’s Mission, Shoalstone Pool, Brixham Gig Club, Brixham Rugby Club and the Museum.
For results of the race and photos go to Port of Brixham Trawler Race on Facebook.
Rotec is pleased to be exhibiting at the Seawork International show again this year, accumulation of previous year’s successes and association with the show that has become one of the best marine and workboat shows in Europe.
Joining Rotec this year will be Ram Reman Ltd, Ram Reman specialize in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of hydraulic cylinders for the marine and offshore market. Conveniently based close to the South Coast between Poole and Bournemouth, with easy striking distance to the major port areas of Portsmouth and Southampton, Ram Reman will be presenting cylinder manufacturing and overhaul capability and services to enlighten any workboat manufacturer or Skipper!
Working closely together, Rotec and Ram Reman have become one of the leading hydraulic system design and manufacturing teams in the UK supported by long standing distributorships with Parker Hannifin in providing quality systems with experienced engineers and specialized equipment for manufacturing cylinders in house.
Visit Rotec and Ram Reman at Seawork Mayflower Park, Southampton on the 14th to 16th June 2016. Stand PB129
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