Addressing the traditional fuel and maintenance costs is always a good idea. But increasingly designers and operators are also looking to give the crew a bit of tender loving care. And not just because it’s the nice thing to do… when your operation can bring in $100K a day, it’s well worth having a crew that is ready, informed, motivated, and happy.
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Crew's control
Let’s start with the rational, technical stuff. Giving the crew the right systems and support makes life at sea easier, more reliable, and more efficient. For instance, remote monitoring can be the crew’s eyes, ears, and brain on-shore, handling all the information the ship generates and turning it into expert advice. It takes out the guesswork. Are you sure you’re running the engines at their most efficient? Relax, that’s all under control. What’s more, if there is a potential downtime issue looming then you’ll be sure of a timely warning and perhaps even an on-the-spot fix. That sort of confidence and security is priceless.
And let’s not forget the crew are people who miss the comforts of home: how to keep them motivated and happy even as ships are operating further from port and for longer? Increasingly we’re seeing designs and solutions that provide a more comfortable, sustainable life. For instance, specially designed offshore accommodation vessels for wind farm maintenance crews, who can now be at sea for 6-7 weeks at a time. This new generation of vessels provides them with everything from more spacious cabins and workspaces to fitness centers and onboard media.
There’s even more natural light and new color schemes, which isn’t as silly and extravagant as it seems – small details like this can help minimize seasickness (especially among wind turbine engineers more used to working on land) and increase their availability. Which can save a lot of time and money, not to mention keep your highly trained crew together in the long run.
CREW'S CONTROL
Life at sea can be unpredictable. When the going gets rough, split-second decisions must sometimes be made – and accuracy is critical. In those moments especially, the crew can have no doubt that they are in total control of their ship. Yet even routine activities can be made safer and more efficient if the crew is confident. That’s why it always pays to have ergonomically designed, easy to use, and completely reliable equipment on board. As the primary means of communication between crew and propulsion system, the control system in particular has to be trustworthy, responsive, and error-free.
When you make a micro-adjustment to the pitch of your thrusters, for example, the command should be executed instantly and perfectly. And in the event of an alarm, you don’t want to waste time trying to decipher hard-to-understand codes; all messages should be written in plain text you can easily read.
This is the motivation behind the design of the MPC800, which features redundant circuitry for dependability, sophisticated microprocessor technology for precision, and an interface that makes operating controllable-pitch propellers and thrusters more intuitive.
