Intelligent Communication for Offshore Markets

The offshore market is one of the most demanding for real-time services and solutions, where critical systems must be designed with fail-safes, to prevent a single failure from compromising the entire offshore operation.

Chief among these systems is the Public Address and General Alarm System - also known as PAGA, which for the offshore environment is regulated by international standards. The purpose of PAGA is to ensure that all critical voice communication or alarms are efficient - not only during emergency situations, but also for general direct communication with the crew.  A modern PAGA system should also offer integrations with other communication platforms, such as intercom, radio, analog, wireless telephony and more, creating a comprehensive, internal communication system for offshore units.

Back in the 1970s, the PAGA systems deployed were mostly a range of locally controlled microphones and amplifiers. Today,  PAGA systems are usually interconnected with other alarm and monitoring systems, such as fire, gas detection and CCTV, raising operational safety to a higher standard.

Over the past 10 years, the technological environment has been changing dramatically, with the development of many more automated serviceapplications, along with the arrival of high-speed networks.  More recently, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence are increasing industry standards to  unpredictable levels - on a path where Zenitel is very well positioned.

Integrated Solutions for the Offshore Industry

Our aim is to align  technology with the emerging demands of the offshore market. We also understand  that the world is moving toward  greater integration between products and services. With Zenitel  solutions, you can seamlessly connect  the dynamics of offshore  internal communications to an onshore control center, in real time. This makes it possible for on- and offshore teams to monitor and interact as if they were all in the same location – not only improving communication, but also leveraging resources in much more efficient way.  

"Whether through analog audio interfaces with line input and output, or network interfaces via SIP Trunk, our server can adapt any signal input and integrate our solutions through the event programming language available on the ICX-AlphaCom platform, making virtually any intercom solution possible."
Rodrigo Costa - Zenitel Brazil Specialist

Offshore Remote Control Rooms - Meeting a  new market trend 

Petrobras launched a public tender in 2018, seeking  a solution to compose the priority microphone in the SCRs project (Remote Control Rooms).  Zenitel products were  offered and delivered by the contract winner. The scalable solution consists of two audio servers in redundancy, priority call stations and speakers that allow two-way communication onshore-offshore, including alarm activation, all fully managed by Petrobras' telecom team. So far, 15 remote control rooms have been installed, running smoothly and totally integrated with several other intercom systems onboard.

At Sapura, Zenitel delivered a remote solution for integrating UHF radio communication into a duplex conferencing system, which allows the entire offshore operation to be monitored from its network operations center in Rio de Janeiro.

"One of our main values is operational improvement and Sapura seeks through online monitoring to further raise the standards of safety and quality of its services. Being able to interact with our vessels through all available modes onboard increases our responsiveness in order to make effective decisions. "
Ricardo Bicudo - CTO, Sapura

In both cases, the benefits are clearly measured by the resulting safer operations, instant communication and live monitoring, not to mention a possible reduction in the number of people required onboard to perform complex offshore operations.

As a leading manufacturer in the offshore industry, Zenitel is fully at the forefront of this technology. We have developed an entirely new concept based on native IP systems that brings voice command from sea to land and vice versa, remotely managing its operation  and  supervision, along with a wide range of solutions that enable  clear, intelligible and instantaneous communication.