Vantage POB and Salem S3 Join Forces
20 September 2006
Vantage POB and Salem S3 join forces to provide comprehensive solutions for offshore Personnel Management
Collabro, the provider of cross-industry collaborative managed services and Salem Automation Ltd, the systems integrator and supplier of control, automation and safety systems have signed an agreement to provide an integrated solution for Personnel Management for the offshore Oil and Gas industry.
Collabro is the service provider and support company for the Vantage Personnel On Board (POB) service, which was developed in 2003 by twelve UK oil and gas companies to provide a personnel-tracking system supporting UK 'best practice' in offshore personnel logistics. The Project was pioneering in many ways, particularly in achieving cross-industry collaboration and funding, and delivering a large-scale Internet enabled system. The system has now been in use for more than two years, and is well received within the business and user community. Today, Oil and Gas operators in the Azerbaijan, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Nigeria, Angola and Trinidad use the system for onshore and offshore installations, with further expansion planned in the UKCS 2006.
Vantage POB is an Internet enabled Personnel Tracking system which manages the details of Oil and Gas workers, tracks and manages transportation of personnel to and from worksites. It also stores personal details including required medicals and competencies for the location. Thanks to its wide, cross-company implementation, the system also facilitates the sharing of transport between the Oil and Gas operators.
Independently, Salem Automation has developed software and certified hazardous-area hardware systems under the collective name of "S3 - Safe, Secure Solutions", which track personnel on an offshore facility, by utilising Radio Frequency Identification techniques using wrist bands or badges. Hazardous area card readers are mounted at strategic locations (doorways, corridors etc., e.g. Bridge Links, Muster Stations) to provide direction sensitive location information, providing supplying real-time POB listing to determine location of personnel and their arrival at Muster Stations. The system provides an accurate and quick means of Mustering Personnel for Drills and/or Real Incidents, based on real-time data, with muster screens showing Location, Personnel Present on the Platform, Personnel Assigned to the Muster Station and Unallocated Lifeboat Seats. Enhanced and rapid mustering enables staff to return to duties or take appropriate safety action quickly.
The agreement has been driven from recent experience on a new gas production complex in the North Sea, for which the End User had placed separate contracts with each of the companies. Subsequent close working relationship and co-operation (including development of product interfaces and data sharing) has provided a proven foundation for further association.
Alan Pearson, Sales and Marketing Director at Salem Automation said, "This is a partnership where both parties draw upon a proven installed base, and the decision to team together will provide our customers with a fully integrated and comprehensive solution to safely manage personnel in the Oil and Gas industry."
Tom Kennedy, Managing Director of Collabro added, "This agreement will enable us to provide additional services to our existing customers and offer a complete package of management tools for new opportunities, including safer, coordinated travel management and offshore working and enhanced mustering facilities."
