By installing the eWON VPN routers and using the Talk2M Internet-based remote access system, Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd, is now able to monitor and resolve issues on its heavy-duty tensioner equipment, located onboard remote marine vessels via V-SAT (global satellite Internet) links or cellular (3G Internet) connections.
Aquatic is a leading independent operator of modular drive systems, carousel and tensioner solutions for the global oil & gas, telecommunications and energy industries. The offshore team is well qualified and trained but sometimes the issues of complex machines need a little extra help. Whilst a telephone call or sending a technician is always an option, in an attempt to offer greater resilience and rapidity, Aquatic sought a way to diagnose the machine remotely.
With this system, problems can now be investigated and identified by Aquatic engineers, and then together with the offshore team, rectified quickly. The cost of the solution is offset by reducing the number of service engineer call-out to vessels.
Brian McRitchie is Electrical Manager at Aquatic’s marine workshop facility in Peterhead, Scotland. He comments: “Aquatic provides an extensive range of equipment for the installation and spooling of flexible flowlines, umbilicals, cables, wire ropes and coil tubing. Installed on marine vessels, this equipment can include anything from small tensioners to dual tensioner systems, powered reel drive systems or a fully modular carousel system with built-in tensioner. Our customers hire this service and expect the equipment and the personnel that operate it, to perform reliably with minimal downtime.”
“The ship could be located anywhere in the world. Therefore, if there is an uncommon problem with our machine, we need to resolve it quickly,” adds McRitchie.
Remote access connectivity
“I knew from my time in the Royal Navy that remote access communications were possible and could offer value for money, so I started to search for a suitable VPN router that we could integrate to our 85Te dual tensioner system. I wanted a solution that would allow our engineers in Scotland to monitor and diagnose equipment faults remotely,” he explains.
“After much research, in late 2013, we came across eWON’s Talk2M solution and VPN router, via the MAC Solutions website. We felt this was the simplest, most cost effective solution available on the market.”
EWON’s Talk2M (Talk to Machines) is an Internet-based remote access support and diagnostics service, available in the UK through Industrial Data Communications company MAC Solutions. The platform includes the security, reliability and traceability required by industrial and marine applications. Talk2M enables OEMs, machine builders and systems integrators to provide remote maintenance, support and diagnostics for machines in remote locations or onboard marine vessels.
