SINGLE Buoy Moorings, better known as SBM Offshore, has received New Technology Qualification from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the implementation of an Intelligent Agent Mooring Line Integrity Tool which utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Dutch company in a recent statement said that the new qualification marks an important milestone in its digital-transformation programme, and will allow for the technology to be integrated into offshore systems for the first time.

Séverine Baudic, Managing-Director, New Energies and Services of SBM Offshore

“SBM Offshore’s operating experience, standardised design through its Fast4Ward® programme, and a strong data-management programme, put SBM Offshore in a unique position to unlock significant value through the development of Intelligent Agents,” the company said.
It explained that the tool was built on SBM Offshore’s “unrivalled” mooring expertise and Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) lifecycle management, combined with the advancement in machine-learning capabilities. The technology enables the detection of a potential mooring line failure and its location, without relying on a traditional mooring tension-monitoring system.

According to Oivind Tangen, the Managing-Director, Operations, of SBM Offshore, “This achievement is only one example of how SBM Offshore is using digitalisation to make meaningful shifts in offshore operations, making them safer, more reliable and more efficient.”
Tangen gave the assurance that this is just the beginning of the application of machine learning in its offshore operations. “We target the development of intelligent agents into areas where it is challenging to create value from operational data through traditional analytics,” the SBM Director related.

Meanwhile, Séverine Baudic, Managing-Director of New Energies and Services of SBM Offshore, pointed to the fact that the company’s machine-learning capabilities are developing fast, in an agile work environment.
“We expect a lot to follow through our collaboration with our strategic partner FieldBox.ai. The ultimate objective is to deliver more value to all our clients including the ones in the floating offshore wind market,” Baudic said.

It was explained that the company’s latest accomplishment follows the opening of its first Operational Intelligence and Performance Optimization Centre (OIPOC) in 2018 and “the offshore testing and deployment in 2019 of intelligent agents,” thereby advancing the company’s machine-learning capabilities.
SBM Offshore in its announcement said that the artificial intelligence and machine-learning developments are “executed in partnership with FieldBox.ai, a digital native organisation that brings reliable Industrial Operations AI to scale.”

Nonetheless, with the ABS new technology qualification, it means that SBM Offshore has demonstrated a high level of maturity, and has committed to systematically reviewing potential risks that the new technology may pose.
As it is, SBM Offshore is the builder and operator of ExxonMobil’s Liza Destiny FPSO, which continues to produce oil offshore Guyana, as well as the Prosperity FPSO which was delivered earlier in June. Further, SBM Offshore will also be constructing additional oil-production vessels for ExxonMobil’s Guyana operations.

This is being done under an aforementioned state-of-the-art Fast4Ward® programme, and will include building of the Liza Unity FPSO, which is slated to be delivered later this year.
With ABS already positioned in 200 offices in 70 countries around the world, SBM Offshore is pleased to have received qualification status, recognising it to be part and parcel of a wider ambition to expand its activities by offering digital services to the offshore energy market.