Diamond Offshore introduces cybernetic BOP service

Offshore staff

HOUSTON– Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. has launched Sim-Stack, the offshore drilling industry’s first cybernetic BOP service.

When issues arise, the service is said to immediately determine a proper course of action while providing a third-party statement of fact to the operator, BSEE, and other regulatory bodies.

Acting as the “virtual twin” of aBOP system on a drilling vessel, Sim-Stack replicates the BOP hydraulically and electrically to assess its overall health and regulatory compliance. When component failures are identified, the new system provides critical feedback without human bias in a systematic method to make informed subsea stack decisions.

Marc Edwards, president and CEO of Diamond Offshore, said: “The majority of non-productive time for an offshore drilling rig relates to subsea equipment certification, repair, and maintenance…Our Sim-Stack service is our latest advancement to reduce BOP downtime, resulting in operational efficiency gains for our clients.”

The company said that the system serves as a training tool for offshore personnel to learn and further develop subsea BOP knowledge, similar to simulated flight training in the aviation industry.

In conjunction with BOP Risk Mitigation Services LLC, the drilling contractor developed and implemented this new service across all eight BOP systems on its four dynamically positioned drillships working in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company plans to expand this service to additional rigs in its global fleet.

04/17/2018