MCS: Daniel thanks for accepting our invitation. Please tell us a bit about your background and how you got into Marine Coordination.
Daniel: I started working in the Offshore industry in 2014 right after I left University where I studied Nautical Science. I worked as an Offshore Coordinator for a leading German subsea cable manufacturer in northern Germany for various projects related to export cable installation and repair jobs. The offshore wind business just fascinates me with its huge variety of different tasks and topics. It’s the perfect environment for me to bring in my logistical so as my nautical background. No day is like the other. There are new challenges every day and you will learn new things day by day, project by project.
MCS: Daniel, from your experience, how does the current induction process look like and what do you think is missing or could be improved?
Daniel: The induction process is quite time consuming as it needs to be done through the day besides your normal activities as a marine coordinator for a variety of personnel working on and offshore, or vessels entering the project. Therefore, an automated system guiding the personnel through the process of registration is in my eyes essential.
MCS: More automation is indeed something we also see is missing. We usually see a few hundreds of people participating in the execution of a project and often the numbers can go up or above a thousand! Is there any relevant example or opinion you would like to share with our audience?
Daniel: With the increase of personnel in your project, the amount of data and more specifically personal data, is getting more and more over the time. In times with strict General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) it makes sense to activate a function which asks the personnel after a certain period of time if the data set, can be deleted, or check if it is still required for work in this specific project. This will give you a lean, up to date and most important, a quick responding database. Furthermore, you should stick to one type of database in regards to text and file output, which is not limiting you to a single company by its file type. This makes your organization more independent when it comes to necessary software changes.
MCS: How many induction and certification management tools have you worked with? What has your experience using them been so far?
Daniel: I’ve worked with a variety of tools, but for example none of them is taking the work of crosschecking documents out of the hands of the marine coordinators or the site administration.
MCS: Is there space for improvement? What are the current trends? How does the future look like?
Daniel: I think the Global Wind Organization (GWO) for example is heading the right way, with its global certificate data base and its API integration into programs. This eases up a lot of work in the MCC back office as relevant data is already available and much more important, it has been checked and it’s reliable. All data can be downloaded by entering the personal ID to the system and no further work is required in regards to crosschecking available data. Therefore, all training or certification institutes whether it’s GWO, IMO or Oil and Gas related, need to work on the same platform standard. Let’s not forget it is also a matter of liability on data being provided if you work on a platform like this as no one likes to take the risk of wrong issued data or the loss of data in case of a breach.
MCS: Is there anything you would like to add?
Daniel: From what I’ve seen through the years I would say that project inductions need to be more specific for personnel joining the project. That means that marine crew inductions should be able to handle different topics – more related to the work they generally perform compared to turbine technicians for example. This will be more work for related HSE departments, but on the other hand it would also enhance the quality and much more important, the way people view inductions.
MCS: Daniel thank you very much for your time and constructive feedback! We hope that our suppliers will read this BLOG and write down some notes.
We wish you lot’s of success with your current project and that you stay safe during these strange times.
