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www.sea-technology.com September 2016 / st 19 A strategic cooperation agree- ment between Aquatic Engineering and Construction Ltd., an Acteon company, and James Fisher Offshore (JFO), part of James Fisher and Sons plc, has resulted in the forma- tion of a new partnership called the Aquatic–JFO Alliance. The two companies, both special- ists in offshore equipment and flex-lay solutions, can now act as a single-source supplier that offers a streamlined and inte- grated service to the oil, gas, telecommunications and re- newable energy industries. The Aquatic–JFO Alliance provides an expert supply chain for crit- ical-path activities for efficient operations and reduced costs in stringent economic conditions. So far, it has completed its first global collaboration project and has mobilized for its second. With four more projects won, and a further half dozen in the pipeline, it is off to a good start. The oil and gas industry has historically been slow to adopt new technologies and methods of working. But as the economic climate leads to the need to balance costs and current production threatens longevity, the industry must innovate in order to achieve smart cost manage- ment through increased efficiencies and enhanced col- laboration. New technology developments will be related to maximizing economic recovery to achieve a sustainable future. A new era of collaboration and a new, better way of working across all levels of the supply chain are required, incorporating innovative technology that facilitates smart cost management. Aquatic Remote Monitoring Aquatic spends an enor- mous amount of time and en- ergy designing reliability into its machines, but, inevitably, problems can occur. While a telephone call will often suffice, the option of sending a techni- cian is always available. In an attempt to offer greater resilience and rapidity, Aquatic sought a way to be able to re- motely monitor, interrogate and fault find, giving the client extra peace of mind. After successful trials and use offshore, Aquatic has fitted these capabilities to its fleet of tensioners. By mid- 2016, all of Aquatic's two- track tensioners and three of its four-track tensioners will be equipped with TVPN (Tensioner Virtual Private Network) remote connectivity. All tensioners will have this facility by the end of 2017. The Aquatic TVPN system provides "live" engineering backup from a shore-side team; the ability to download log files, allowing these to be for- matted and presented to the client even before the vessel leaves a prospect; and the ability to upload improvements, software updates and client-specific changes to the control system. This three-stage secure system can be connected via the vessel's marine VSAT Internet (Cat5e cable connected to Aquatic control cabin or HPU using an RJ45 connector), or, as a contingency, the router can access the Internet via its own, inbuilt GSM (up to 3G) antenna, which requires the kit to be within a 6-km radius and line of sight of a mobile phone transmitter. The benefits of the TVPN system include: downtime significantly reduced under fault conditions; manpower, flights and hotel reduced substantially should external help be required under fault conditions; high security using the Talk2M network and firewall; and no bandwidth use when Partnership for Single-Source Back Deck Solutions Aquatic-JFO Combines Global Offshore Expertise, Technical Innovation By Steven Kilpatrick • Jack Davidson The Aquatic-JFO Alliance created a full back deck equip- ment spread for Ocean Installer Inc. in the Gulf of Mexico.