Autonomous landing function increases safety and up-time Barge Master gangways

Rotterdam based Barge Master and Bosch Rexroth introduce the autonomous landing function to motion compensated gangways. Adding to increased safety and available operational hours.

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Autonomous landing systems use sophisticated technology to improve safety and efficiency for motion compensated gangways. As automation technology becomes more sophisticated and vessel owners around the world prioritize the optimization of operational hours, Bosch Rexroth has developed a new autonomous landing solution which significantly improves both safety and performance of the Barge Master gangways.

Landing systems are essential when it comes to transferring people and essential items between a vessel and an oil & gas platform or wind turbine generator. Through advanced drive technology and digital sensors, these systems compensate for the vessel movement, making them safer to use in adverse conditions. However, manual control is still required when it comes to engaging the landing with the platform. Depending on the experiences of the operator as well as the weather conditions, this can become a challenging task.

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More safety comes with this new autonomous landing solution. Through a combination of sophisticated radar technology, cameras and sensors, the system automatically attaches the landing to the required site without the need for manual input. This means that the operation is consistent and reliable, regardless of weather and ocean conditions. Once connected, the landing utilizes the usual motion compensation which works alongside the vessel’s dynamic positioning system to ensure a safe, steady connection between the ship and the platform.

“There are a number of benefits to the autonomous landing system,” says Rene Coppens, Business Development for Barge Master systems at Bosch Rexroth. “First of all, it’s a further improvement of safety. Perhaps most importantly though, our systems increase the available operational hours. Our system can work in difficult conditions and does not depend on availability of operators, so it can really improve the uptime. These three key benefits present a real step forward in autonomous landing solutions.”

Read the full press release on the Barge Master website