The future workforce driving the remote and autonomous transition

Society’s demands for greener energy are driving the acceleration and the globalisation of offshore wind. The oil and gas industry are also looking to reduce emissions and there is significant growth in carbon capture and storage projects that will sequester CO₂ emissions in exhausted offshore reservoirs. High-quality Geo-data services will be critical to the success and rapid construction of these developments, including:

• Characterising the seabed to optimise and derisk offshore infrastructure design;

• Providing accurate positioning and support for the installation of subsea and floating assets;

• Inspecting and managing the integrity of the infrastructure from installation through to decommissioning.

To make sure we are able meet the growing Geo-data requirements, we will be transforming how we deliver our services and the structure of our workforce.

Our blueprint for the future

We now have a robust global network of nine increasingly connected Remote Operations Centres. These highly secure, highly resilient, 24-hour onshore command-and-control facilities are set to play a critical role in the acquisition of high-quality data as we build new operational models to support both our USVs and our conventional fleet of crewed vessels.

Our new operational model will continue to support our offshore professionals on our conventional fleet while providing increased career opportunities within our network of ROCs – the heart of our Geo-data acquisition strategy. The transition has already begun on some of our geotechnical, geophysical and inspection, repair and maintenance vessels where positioning, Geo-data analysis and reporting are now carried out at a ROC. During the next two years we will be deploying more advanced automated systems and robotics. This will enable us to launch sensors, acquire data, maintain and recover equipment remotely from a ROC.

New opportunities in stronger career pathways

The transition to our new operational model will also create new career pathways and strengthen existing ones. For example, we currently have separate teams on our vessels: one responsible for maintaining and operating all marine ship-based equipment and another for Geo-data acquisition. But we will be increasingly merging these teams to create a single, integrated onboard team with a focus on safely and efficiently operating the vessel and deploying Geo-data systems from the vessel.

Our resilient ROCs will control the Geo-data acquisition systems. This is happening already: data is streamed from the vessel to the cloud in near real-time. It passes through our quality control process, then flows onto our processing and analytics experts, who interpret the raw data and convert it into useful client information, presented in a user-friendly format.

Remote operation capabilities are enabling offshore technical specialists to make the transition to onshore – for example, a surveyor or systems engineer may decide to pursue their technical career exclusively in an ROC. For those that want to continue working offshore, there will still be a strong career pathway with transition to this new operational model.

Client benefits

Our new operational model delivers huge client benefits because:

• Accelerated delivery of Geo-data results and recommendations enables client project teams to have access to the data sooner, fast track overall project timelines and ultimately reduce the time it takes to generate a financial return;

• Subject matter experts onshore can review data promptly during acquisition and support multiple vessels simultaneously – this provides higher confidence in the data collected and improved quality control;

• There are big reductions in safety exposure and carbon emissions through transporting fewer people to and from vessels – and the vessels themselves can of course be smaller, so will use less fuel.

In conclusion…

Marine Geo-data acquisition and delivery are changing at pace. Technological advances, coupled with increased interconnectivity are enabling clients to access data in near real-time, and expert analysis and recommendations within as little as one hour. Our new operational model is bold and carefully conceived. It will ensure we have a talented and highly skilled team operating cutting-edge technology, processes and vessels – remotely and in-person – to satisfy our clients’ growing need to access high-quality Geo-data delivered at speed, now and in the years to come.

Did you know?

• We have a robust global network of 9 increasingly connected ROCs

• The offshore wind market is growing at a 21 % compound annual growth rate to 2030

• Between 2020 to 2026, the global carbon capture and storage market is growing at a 15 % compound annual growth rate

About the author

Mike Liddell is Program Director Future Workforce at Fugro