Remote access support and diagnostics reduces machine downtime

Aquatic takes great care to design its machines to be reliable but, inevitably, problems sometimes occur. The offshore team is well qualified and trained, but occasionally the issues of complex machines need a little extra help; while a telephone call will often suffice and the option of sending a technician is always available, in an attempt to offer better resilience and a faster response, Aquatic sought a way to quiz the machine remotely. With the eWON VPN routers and Talk2M remote access system, issues can now be investigated and identified by Aquatic engineers, and then, together with the offshore team, rectified quickly. The cost of the system is offset by reducing the number of service engineer calls-out to vessels.

Aquatic is an independent operator of modular drive systems, carousel and tensioner products for the global oil and gas, telecommunications and energy industries. The company has more than 40 years' experience in onshore and offshore installations, transpooling, recovery and decommissioning works. With teams in Houston (USA), Aberdeen, Peterhead, Woking and Singapore, Aquatic is capable of meeting customer needs for any spooling installation project worldwide.

Brian McRitchie is the 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."

With a background that includes 22 years in the Royal Navy, McRitchie began to look for a suitable remote access product. He says: "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, wherever that ship is in the world."

Simple and cost-effective remote access

He continues: "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. In order to test and fully understand the VPN router and Talk2M, we trialled the system on one of our 50Te tensioners in the workshop at Peterhead. Everything worked very well and if we did not understand something, the team at MAC Solutions quickly provided us with the necessary technical support. With Talk2M, it is as if the service engineer is physically onboard the ship, next to the machine or control cabinet, accessing the HMI display or PLC, with a laptop."

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 software offers a professional platform with all the security, reliability and traceability required by industrial and marine applications. Talk2M is a secure and affordable service that enables OEMs, machine builders and systems integrators to provide remote maintenance, support and diagnostics for machines in remote locations or onboard marine vessels. Talk2M can be accessed anywhere in the world, using secure Broadband and other secure wireless connections.

The three routers installed on Aquatic's 85Te dual-tensioner systems are eWON 2005CD industrial-grade routers with dual LAN/modem connectivity. As well as being equipped with an Ethernet port, two of the three routers also have SIM cards which, in the event of a V-SAT link being unavailable, enable Aquatic engineers to access their equipment via a 3G cellular network.

The eWON and Talk2M solution provides Aquatic with a differentiator for its 85Te dual tensioner systems hired out to marine vessel operators. McRitchie adds: "Some of our tensioner systems also have cameras installed, so that local operators can see what is happening from their control room or booth. Talk2M also enables me to access this same web-camera view. I can also screen-share with a user to remotely instruct them on the operational idiosyncrasies of the systems or how to navigate through the more isolated control and monitoring screens."

David Tibbetts, Vice President of Technology, comments: "The trial and subsequent installation of this solution onto our larger tensioners further demonstrates our commitment to our customers; any advantage we can offer can improve both the project timings and the financial, commercial benefits of the contract. We look forward to rolling this solution out to the remainder of our tensioner fleet."

Follow the link for more information about eWON and Talk2M Internet-based remote access systems.