Operational Excellence:

Back to basics!

Any good architect knows that to guarantee the longevity of a building it needs solid foundations that will withstand the test of time. Entrepreneurship is no exception to this common sense rule. BOURBON's recent history provides additional proof.

Our group has indeed known how to conduct, for nearly two years now, an ambitious program of transformation while building on its fundamentals, the pillars of its operational excellence:

• safety and compliance, our priority commitments, on the site of our operations and on shore, everywhere in the world. Our Life Saving Rules, in terms of safety, are thus a constant reminder of our "zero incident" objective;
• the skill of our qualified, trained and experienced employees, delivering standards of excellence recognized by our customers and which guarantee their satisfaction;
• the technical availability of our vessels, reinforced by corrective maintenance and soon to incorporate preventive and predictive maintenance, enabling us to ensure the continuity of our service, despite severe budgetary constraints;
• cost optimization, notably made possible by the standardization and digitalization of our fleet.

BOURBON has undertaken its transformation, adopted a new state of mind and enhanced its offer with new services while evolving its operatinal model and controlling its costs. That is the ambition of the #BOURBONINMOTION strategic action plan. Nevertheless, the group has not forgotten where it came from and the assets on which its leadership is founded. Its leitmotiv is "ambition & pragmatism". It has made the strategic choice of innovation without neglecting the standards of operational quality that have always been, and continue to be, its strength. Every day, our teams thus carry out their support missions for the Oil & Gas industry, providing their expertise to new partners, in new regions, with a single obsession: our customers' satisfaction.

Gaël Bodénès, 
CEO

PartnerShip: BOURBON has never signed this type of contract before. What is the principle and why make this choice?
Gildas Courau: We all know the context, a slump in the OSV market and very low dayrates due to the over-capacity in supply vessels. So, we started to think along these lines: what differentiates our vessels from those of our competitors? The answer is simple: the diesel-electric propulsion that equips most of our fleet. We should also remember that BOURBON possesses 80% of the shallow water diesel-electric fleet! These vessels consume much less than traditionally powered vessels, especially our Bourbon Liberty 200. I believe that there are practically no other vessels on the market that consume so little. We run on less than 5m3 of fuel per day, where others use 9 or 10 m3. It is a real competitive advantage because, remember, it is the client who pays fuel costs. So we decided to propose a «fuel incentive» contract to the client. This means that we are committed to fuel consumption objectives by contract. The dayrate is a little lower but if we perform better than this fuel consumption objective, we will have a bonus of 5% on the dayrate. Otherwise, we will incur a penalty. That’s the general principle.

PS: How did the client take this proposal?
G.C.: The client showed immediate interest for the principle and we demonstrated pedagogy to ensure that it perceived the potential gain as well as possible. In this type of contract, the most important thing is to make the client understand that the potential bonus for BOURBON does not entail an increase in costs for them. If we obtain this bonus, the dayrate will certainly be higher but this additional cost will remain significantly lower than the gain achieved by the fuel savings. The client will therefore remain the main beneficiary of the savings made. The notion of shared gains is essential.

PS: How do you assess the success of this contract?
G.C.: Like for any new model, we had to assess the risks. We used our history of operations with this client to assess the vessel’s average consumption. We didn’t want take a shot in the dark! For the moment, it is a prudent contract that, I hope, will be a first step towards even more ambitious contracts. From the first month of the contract, we observed that crews were highly motivated to reach their objectives. The consumption of the two vessels was considerably reduced to reach 4.5 m³ /day for one and 3.9 m ³ /day for the other. We can congratulate the professionalism of our seafarers! That is why I am reasonably confident for the long term. I think that we should be able to reach our objective if all the players remain this committed.

PS: Do you specifically mean the crew?
G.C.: Yes, but not only. The crews on board obvious play a key role and have been made aware, notably by the Contracts Managers, of the procedures that will enable us to reach our goals. The captains have the means to better manage the consumption of their vessels thanks to ODA1. But I insist that it is above all a real team effort! Everybody has to pull together for it to work - the crew, the Operations Manager, the Contracts Manager - even more so as there are changeovers, backups, etc. We have to be vigilant about the level of information and commitment of everybody involved.

PS: Are there any discussions with other clients for contracts of this type?
G.C.: Fuel consumption can be difficult to assess for a totally new contract, but discussions have just been concluded with the same client for a contract of this type in a different geographical zone. In addition, I have approached other clients to adjust, modify or convert certain current contracts. Moreover, the principle of bonus-malus linked to the performance of the service rate could also apply to Surfers' contracts in the future. But at this stage, reaching this agreement is already a real success, showing us where we need to go.
 

¹ ODA: Operational Data Application. Daily report of vessel data, notably concerning fuel consumption.

Bourbon Subsea Services is recognized for the maintenance and availability of its 37 subsea vessels cranes with capacities from 20 t to 250 t and power from 280 KW to 3500 kW. This equipment is maintained by in-house technical experts in electrohydraulics and chief engineers on board vessels.

Bourbon Subsea Services has now assumed the role of solution provider for electro-hydraulic handling equipment: cranes, of course, but also winches, pipe handling and even port equipment. "We offer maintenance services on a one-off or multi-annual contract basis, solutions for the repair and improvement of equipment and surveys with follow-up" explains Philippe Duquennoy. Customer demand for such services was very strong, which led Bourbon Subsea Services to create this new department in 2018. The team thus carries out operations around the globe, on equipment of all brands and capacities. Its strengths? Deep knowledge of electro-hydraulics, its capacity to manage operations rapidly and its ability to provide advice concerning maintenance policy or for the improvement of installations.

"We are inspecting, for example, the lifting cables of the RPS 400 t (Riser Pulling System) in order to connect the risers of the Zinia field with the FPSO Pazflor. This operation includes a magneto-inductive inspection that informs us on the state of the cable at depth, with no need for removal, followed by the forced lubrification of the cable and finally a back-tension to roll it perfectly around its drum. All this without interfering with the production of the FPSO," Philippe Duquennoy testifies. And the feedback from the first customers is excellent. HYDRAUSERV offer has also created detailed safety and technical procedures dedicated to the operation, which is particularly appreciated by the customers. "We provide true technical expertise in this particular area in the offshore sector. We work according to the rules of the trade and with total safety, which are guarantees that are expected by our clients ," he concludes.

PartnerShip: How have these 4 years of crisis affected safety?

Vincent Coquelet: The crisis implied a general decrease in resources, which in certain cases may have generated breakdowns and therefore greater exposure to risks. That was our biggest challenge. We require standards that are difficult to meet when there is a lack of resources, even though safety has always been our priority. But today we have returned to operational standards that are practically identical to those before the crisis, with the Bourbon Mobility Surfers investment plan.

Patrick Lièvre: This crisis pushed us to change our models to find other means to maintain our safety standards. We have gone back to more basic, simple but effective tools, such as the Safety Posts1, which are a big success with both our teams and our customers, and the Life Saving Rules. Moreover, we are developing our Smart shipping program, which also serves safety: the digitization of time-consuming administrative tasks thus enables the crews to remain focused on the assessment and prevention of risk.
 

PartnerShip: Since 2012 and despite the crisis, BOURBON's results in terms of safety have been largely superior to the IMCA average. How do you account for this?

Olivier Vinoche: The crews remain highly committed and our SMS (Safety Management System) provides a solid base, a robust tool to assist the application of safety on board. Thus, in the first five months of 2019, Bourbon Subsea Services didn't have any recordable incidents reported!

Patrick Lièvre: For me, it is the sign of the company's real maturity. But we cannot rest on these figures, because our results were not as good in 2018. We have to stay humble and mobilized.

Vincent Coquelet: We still have a way to go to achieve an optimal safety culture, but we are not beginners. Safety has been part of BOURBON's DNA for many years. And most of our teams work very well and respect the procedures.
 

PartnerShip: BOURBON encourages visits by management on board and to the bases. Why do you prioritize this mode of action?

Olivier Vinoche: Yes, indeed, each manager must carry out at least 4 visits per year. That is a lot more than in previous years and it enables better communication with operators and more contact with the field. Information is reported more rapidly and the teams are more involved.

Vincent Coquelet: The involvement of top management is fundamental to the safety policy. It demonstrates that safety is not just the responsibility of the safety manager, it is everybody's business! We also have to go beyond sanctions and focus more on education. The teams must apply the safety policy because they believe in it and not because they are forced to. That is the purpose of these field visits by management.

Olivier Vinoche: I'd like to add that putting pressure on the teams is counter-productive because they then hesitate to report information in case of an incident. Hence the education policy that we carry out.

PartnerShip: Has BOURBON's reorganization into three autonomous companies been beneficial for safety management?

Patrick Lièvre: Segmentation has enabled us to focus on a single activity and thus allows us to better focus on the risks specific to our segment. That doesn't mean that the ties have been broken and we meet very regularly to work together proactively.

Vincent Coquelet: For the Surfers, this change has been extremely beneficial with an entity dedicated to our problematics. We have common BOURBON standards, while being more focused and therefore more effective on our respective core businesses. Contact persons are also better defined.
 

PartnerShip: Would you like to send a particular message to the crews?

Olivier Vinoche: I'd like to say that we are here to provide them with support, that they can continue their efforts despite the difficulties. The teams manage to perform remarkable operations with total safety thanks to the control over risks and the collaboration of our customers, which is fundamental.

Vincent Coquelet:The tools devoted to safety are there to help the personnel and not to replace them. They should not be seen as a constraint but as a support to better understand the risks and to be able to confront them.

Patrick Lièvre: Thanks to the efforts on board, most operations go well and we never forget that. Beyond our own action, we have to keep in mind that safety is not a unilateral job: customers and contractors must work together with total transparency to build a global safety culture.

 

¹Safety Post - This original media (comic strip format), based on real events, was developed to engage individual and team thinking by initiating discussions about accidents and the means to avoid them. The Safety Post has become a major safety tool that has been adopted by all BOURBON employees.

Inspired by the aviation world, this new design clearly projects Bourbon Mobility Crew boats into a new dimension. Via Business, Premium & Eco classes, this new equipment, which has been thought out in the slightest detail, responds to a strong desire to enhance the passenger experience: "Bourbon Mobility clearly displays its ambition to establish new standards of comfort for personnel transport," states CEO François Leslé. "Today, this is materialized by a leap forward in the interior design of our Crew boats, which we are sure will satisfy the expectations of our passengers and ultimately contribute to making Bourbon Mobility its clients' preferred company."

This new design must serve BOURBON's absolute priority, safety. That is why the seats are equipped with handles to facilitate movement during rolling and pitching, the screens broadcasting safety instructions have been enlarged and the lifejackets are more visible and easily accessible.

An immediately visible upgrade

The designers of the Peugeot Design Lab perfectly realized the specifications of Bourbon Mobility, both in terms of ergonomics and comfort. "This crewboat cabin design project is at the crossroads of the work we have carried out in the aviation, rail and nautical sectors, which makes it particularly interesting," emphasizes Arnaud Gournac, Head of Peugeot Design Lab, Peugeot Cycles & Peugeot Life style. "It is obvious that this new installation will transform personnel transport for the oil & gas industry by enabling passengers to remain longer at a level of comfort that they appreciated in the airplane that brought them to the site. Accompanying them as best as possible to their place of work in a reassuring environment is an exciting challenge." 

The Business class thus offers seats equipped with lateral supports, wrap-around headrests and a leg rest. They recline generously and offer a great deal of legroom. The panoramic windows and light colors of the cabins reinforce the impression of space and ventilation. In addition, this new cabin offers closed overhead storage spaces, a tablet dock and a USB outlet to enjoy the onboard entertainment offer.

The first Crew boat equipped with this latest-generation cabin will be a Crewliner, a 36 m Surfer with a capacity of 46 passengers. Scheduled delivery date: late 2019, before the gradual roll-out by 2020 of the other vessels of the fleet based on the cabin module plug & play principle.