The digitalisation of Saudi Arabia’s offshore vessel management

Saudi Arabia

Faisal Alzahrani, managing director of Integrated Marine Solutions (IMS), talks to The Energy Year about the main trends signalling growth in the Saudi offshore market and how digitalisation tools bring efficiency to the sector. IMS is a one-stop shop providing marine services for maritime industrial operations.

What are the main trends signalling growth in the Saudi offshore market?
The rig count is one of the main indicators of how attractive the oil and gas offshore market is. The offshore rig count is increasing exponentially and is expected to hit more than 100 units in Saudi Arabia in the coming years. It is something never seen before.
Saudi Aramco expansion plans and the growth of offshore oil and gas exploration and production projects will increase the number of offshore support vessels. This means that marine activity and support services will also grow during this time. Considering all types of vessels, the number could reach more than 700 vessels in the Arabian Gulf (Saudi territory).

What are other drivers of marine activity growth besides offshore oil and gas activity?
The Arabian Peninsula is strategically located to connect three main parts of the industrial world together through the major navigational waters. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an important number of commercial and industrial ports, which are strategically located to serve international trade. Vessel operation requires certain ashore support services to maintain assets.
One of the main ongoing development projects is The Red Sea project, which holds potential for offshore wind farms. These are expected to be the cheapest source of renewable energy. This will involve large numbers of multifunctional support vessels.

How can digitalisation tools help bring efficiency to the marine sector?
The transformation of conventional vessel management into a completely digitalised form is an essential part of today’s era. IMS has packaged and structured digital solutions that are customisable for vessel operational management. Our solutions comprise the hardware installation, process automation streamlining and the data collection, which is done through a unified interactive platform.
IMS offers a number of digital solutions for smart engines regarding data analytics and artificial intelligence. These optimise the asset, enable accessibility to machinery insights for enhanced predictive maintenance and provide an overview of asset activities so one can form a desirable decision support system.

How does IMS’ Fueltrax system save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions?
I’m honoured to partner with Fueltrax, the world-leading and most innovative fuel management provider. Vessel owners and charterers in the region will soon realise the merits of Fueltrax onboard their fleets. The system offers not only smart and accurate fuel management but also provides a bundle of other services that provide clients with real-time insights and allow them to manage their fleet’s performance. Eventually Fueltrax will not only improve fleet efficiency but also cut operating costs and help customers remain competitive in the market.
I can confidently say Fueltrax is a very important and crucial stepping stone towards more efficient energy consumption in the kingdom. It aligns perfectly with Saudi Arabia’s ambitious pledge to cut carbon emissions to net-zero by 2060.

How important is it to integrate different digital tools in order to operate a smart vessel?
Integrating different digital tools will help shipowners limit human error, improve efficiency and enhance performance.

What other partners complete your digitalised service portfolio for the marine industry?
IMS has partnered with the most innovative companies that cover the entire MENA region. Praxis, Hi-Pro and Master Systems provide smart and accurate world-leading systems for alarm and data integration and complete solutions for ship automation, navigation, CCTV surveillance, electrical propulsion and dynamic positioning. IMS provides 24/7 technical support and spare parts for the entire MENA region.

How are you planning to localise these services?
We are transferring the know-how to Saudi talent engineers. Fueltrax has trained some of our Saudi technicians, and they have already worked on multiple installations across the Middle East. Consequently, they now install the system onboard marine vessels by themselves.
IMS and its partners are investing in the Saudi workforce and promoting knowledge transfer. IMS signed an agreement with the National Maritime Academy to train the first-ever cohort of electro-technical officers in-kingdom.

What other opportunities do you see in vessel digitalisation?
Vessel digitalisation is becoming a requirement of oil-producing companies across the world. IMS will expand its operations to also cover navy ships and yachts.

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