The occurrence of marine salvage and wreck incidents initiate impressive, large-scale operational responses, often involving the intricate coordination of various authorities. The objective is to contain the risks and minimise impact – to people, to the economy, and to the environment.  

This inevitably requires in-depth intelligence and situational awareness to achieve. Many organisations prepare for this by having consultants and relevant experts on standby, ready to provide insight into the structural stability of a vessel or to analyse the potential outcomes of an explosion or leak before the operation is complete. 

While this provides thorough decision support, this approach can become costly when used as a sole resource, especially for large-scale incidents, such as the Evergiven Suez Canal blockage, and long-lasting operations such as the FSO Safer. Our MarineAware Operations solution provides advanced modelling and analysis to deliver cost-effective operational support for ongoing salvage and wreck situations. 

This capability can be used throughout an incident’s lifecycle, from risk assessment and operational planning to post-event analysis. It offers a powerful and reliable source of intelligence, which can be used independently or as additional support for experts and responders on the scene. 

Many organisations in the ecosystem of salvage and wreck, all of which may have different objectives, can benefit from this tool. We’ve outlined some of the primary use cases below. 

Wreck and Salvage Teams 

Contingency planning and communication tool 

Salvage teams can use MarineAware Operations as a monitoring and risk assessment tool during ongoing operations. The modelling capabilities can be leveraged to understand how an incident is evolving, along with how the outcomes and impacts may be changing hour to hour. For example, predicting the direction of an oil spill as wind direction changes, or measuring the increasing risk of a fire. 

This is extremely effective for planning events in the short term, helping teams identify where the risks are present so they can target their actions. 

MarineAware Operations also enables these teams to effectively communicate with other authorities who need to put their own mitigations in place. The intelligence provided will help all parties understand who needs to be involved and how should something happen. 

Local authorities 

Planning and mitigation 

Similarly, local authorities can model the wider impacts of something occurring during marine operations and prepare a response. This is especially useful in areas with an active aquaculture or blue economy, allowing the region to protect their economies and their people from adverse impact. 

It further allows these groups to coordinate their resources with other stakeholders involved in salvage operations. Through MarineAware Operations, they can share information, communicate, and create a common operating picture to work from. 

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Corporates and Insurance 

Planning, risk assessment, and social responsibility 

These organisations, as stakeholders in marine vessels, can use MarineAware Operations as a risk mitigation tool and to help save resource during any operation. 

The solution allows these organisations to understand the risks if an incident should occur during their operations. This both supports strategic preparation and decision-making, but also demonstrates that they’ve fulfilled their corporate and social responsibility to minimise operational impact on people and the environment. 

Organisations can also use the modelling capabilities to reduce the cost of operations, such as clean-up activities. For example, if organisations can act quickly and deploy their resources in a targeted manner, they can avoid costly impacts, such as oil washing up on a beach versus being contained in the water.  

This is an essential capability as operational and clean-up costs can be immense, demonstrated by many past incidents, such as the Johor oil spill which was reported to have cost the ship owners $1.6 million in clean up. 

In addition, these organisations benefit from having a record of activity and the power to retrospectively analyse, or prove, what occurred and why. 

Legal 

Retrospective analysis 

Having a record of activity, alongside the live information gained as operations evolve, is extremely useful for post-event analyses and arbitration. 

If an incident does occur during salvage and wreck operations, MarineAware Operations can support investigations into what happened and what caused it. It enables organisations to evidence their decisions, and why they made them, when used throughout an operation. Areas to improve can also be identified, enabling more efficient and effective operations in future. 

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