Digital twin simulation for Les Alizés & Voltaire and new simulators at JDN Group Facilities. 

The challenge

Jan De Nul was bringing two unprecedented vessels into service at the same time: Les Alizés, a 5,000-tonne heavy lift vessel, and Voltaire, the world's largest jack-up installation vessel. No crew had ever operated assets at this scale. OSC was commissioned to build the environment they could train in before going offshore.

What OSC delivered

• Full digital twins of both vessels, every crane, motion, deck layout, and control system replicated from the actual asset models.

• Every scenario, rehearsed in real conditions, monopiles, nacelles, blades, and jackets lifted against live sea states, wind, fog, and equipment failures. If it can happen offshore, crews have already faced it.

• Junior talent trained independently, new crew reach full competence in simulation, without costing senior operators a distracted minute at sea.

• A showroom for investors and clients, the simulator lets stakeholders experience an operation before it begins, building confidence before a single vessel leaves port. 

Outcomes

• Crew qualified before first offshore deployment.

• Industry-first operations fully de-risked.

• Junior pipeline accelerated without senior crew burden.

• Simulator used as investor showroom.
  
  

"Simulation is the safest place to fail and also the cheapest. ​ For your infrastructure, your operations, and the people inside them.”​
- Stefan Bruggeman ​
Head of Competence and Experience​ @ JDN Group

Gangway & Access Simulation, Valhall Flank West.

The challenge
Before a single person stepped across the gangway at Valhall Flank West, Aker BP needed certainty — that the vessel and platform would perform together safely, that crews understood the environment, and that every foreseeable risk had already been met and managed. OSC built a full simulation of the gangway and access system so teams could do exactly that, before operations began.

1.7M Hours worked on Valhall Flank West, with only 10 minor injuries recorded. A safety record that simulation helped make possible.

What OSC delivered

• Vessel and gangway verified together in simulation, the full system was tested and confirmed before a single offshore transfer took place.

• Teams saw the environment before entering it, every potential problem identified and understood ahead of mobilisation, not discovered offshore.

• First successful Walk-to-Work deployment for Aker BP, simulation was a critical part of making that milestone happen safely.

• A safety and training culture built to last, offshore personnel now have access to preparation environments that simply didn't exist before this project.

Outcomes

• 1.7M hours worked with only 10 minor injuries.

• System verified before first offshore transfer.

• First successful W2W deployment for Aker BP.

• Lasting safety culture established across the project.

"The big benefit is the ability to foresee what's about to happen, to understand the environment before we move into it."
- Project Director @ Aker BP, Valhall Flank West

Subsea Gas Installation, ROV & Training, Åsgard Subsea Compression

The challenge
The Åsgard subsea compressor is the world's largest and most complex subsea installation,  operating at 300 metres depth, in poor visibility and low light, where a mistake on the seabed is not an option. TechnipFMC, Equinor's marine contractor, needed every operator fully prepared before setting foot on site. Many crew members had lost familiarity with the subsea environment entirely. OSC built a complete simulation of the operation so they could earn that confidence back before going offshore.

What OSC delivered

• A full-environment digital twin — bridge, control room, two ROVs, and crane all replicated in one integrated training environment. Every system used offshore, available in simulation.

• Every offshore operation rehearsed before mobilisation — TechnipFMC operators ran through each procedure in simulation, step by step, before setting foot on site.

• Familiarity with the seabed restored — crews who had lost confidence in the subsea environment regained it through targeted simulator training before the project began.
  

• VR immersion for the impossible angles — dome visualisation placed operators inside the subsea environment with a level of spatial awareness no briefing room could replicate.

Outcomes

• World's most complex subsea installation de-risked.

• Full crew readiness confirmed before first offshore day.

• Lost seabed familiarity fully restored through simulation.

• All systems,  bridge, ROV, crane,  trained in one environment

"It’s been a pleasure working with you. We at Equinor, Ocean Installer, and Axtech got exactly what we needed and were fully prepared. Thank you for another great experience!"
- Morten Person, System Lead Åsgard Subsea Compression Project @ Equinor 

World's largest offshore simulation centre, Bibra Lake, Perth

The challenge
Farstad Shipping needed a permanent, world-class training facility in Perth, close to the offshore operations they support across Australia and Southeast Asia, where entire crews could train together, not just individual officers. The ambition was to build the most advanced offshore simulation centre on the planet, capable of training every role on a vessel simultaneously in realistic, high-pressure conditions. OSC was chosen to design and deliver it.

What OSC delivered

• Full 360-degree offshore vessel bridge, a curved fibreglass projection screen 7 metres high and 15 metres in diameter, wrapped in seamless imagery from 22 professional-grade projectors. Approved by the Nautical Institute as a Class B DP Bridge.
• Four standalone anchor handling winch simulators, built on OSC's Small Dome visualisation solution, enabling deck crew to train independently or as part of integrated vessel-wide scenarios.
• Integrated multi-crew training, bridge officers, deck crew, and crane operators training together in the same scenario, at the same time, in the same virtual environment. The first facility of its kind to make whole-crew simulation possible at this scale.
• Full technology infrastructure, over 30 PCs and servers, instructor station, and Rolls-Royce Marine product training integration. Built to serve both Farstad's own crew and external maritime organisations across the region.

Outcomes

• World's largest offshore simulation centre at opening.
• Nautical Institute Class B DP Bridge accreditation.
• First facility enabling full whole-crew simulation at scale.
• Still operating 13+ years later as Perth Simulation.

Legacy

More than a decade after OSC delivered the centre, it continues to operate as Perth Simulation, now an independent, Australian-owned facility and a recognised centre of excellence for the marine and construction industries across the Asia-Pacific region. It has trained hundreds of deck and engineering officers in DP operations alone, and continues to serve oil, gas, and renewables operators across Australia.

Marine simulation suite, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The challenge
The North Sea faces one of the most complex decommissioning challenges in the world, hundreds of ageing platforms, pipelines, and subsea structures that need to be safely removed over the coming decades, in some of the harshest offshore conditions on the planet. The National Decommissioning Centre, a partnership between the University of Aberdeen and the Net Zero Technology Centre, needed a simulation capability that could support industry in trialling new technologies, planning complex operations, and de-risking decommissioning campaigns before committing assets offshore. OSC delivered. 

What OSC delivered

• A fully immersive walk-in simulation dome, 9 metres in diameter, 300-degree visual environment with real-time physics at its core. Every vessel, crane, ROV, and object in the scene responds to live-controlled weather, waves, wind, and current.

• Multi-operator control across any asset in the scene, each of the four control stations can take command of any object in the simulation, whether a vessel, crane, ROV, or personnel, enabling true team-based decommissioning rehearsal.

• Full CAD import capability, real asset data can be brought directly into the simulation environment, allowing operators to rehearse removal of specific structures with exact geometry before going offshore.

• Built for more than decommissioning, the simulator is equally capable of supporting offshore and floating wind installation, subsea technology trials, and renewables campaign planning, making it a permanent research asset for Scotland's energy transition.

Outcomes

• World-class research facility for North Sea decommissioning.

• New offshore technologies trialled and de-risked before deployment.

• Basin-wide energy transition planning.

• Facility extended to support offshore wind and renewables research.
  

Heavy lift, ballasting & monopile installation — Orion vessel, Belgium HQ

The challenge
DEME's Orion represents a fundamental shift in how offshore wind components are installed. Unlike conventional jack-up vessels that operate from a stable seabed-supported platform, the Orion is a floating heavy lift vessel, continuously subject to wave action and vessel motion during operations. That changes everything: how the crane behaves, how ballasting interacts with lift dynamics, how the full crew must coordinate in real time. No prior training environment existed for this type of operation. OSC built one.

What OSC delivered

• Full digital twin of the Orion — the vessel, crane, ballasting systems, and operational environment replicated in exact detail. Not a generic heavy lift scenario. The Orion itself, behaving exactly as it does offshore.
• Integrated full-crew rehearsals,  master, lifting supervisor, ballast operator, crane operator, and DP officer training together in a single scenario. Communication tested and optimised before anyone steps offshore. The team that trains is the team that operates.
• Engineering teams in the simulator before the project starts, design and engineering staff gaining hands-on experience of the operation during the planning phase. Measurable time, cost, and safety advantages delivered from day one, not from first offshore lift.
• An engineering development environment, not just a training tool, methods, tools, and equipment designed, tested, and refined in simulation before being committed to offshore. The simulator becomes part of the engineering process, not a separate training programme.
• Built to DEME's own standard, DEME's bar for operational excellence, safety, and sustainability is exceptionally high. The simulator was built to meet it, because for DEME, simulation isn't optional. It's how they never settle for less.

Outcomes

• Floating HLV operations rehearsed before first offshore project.

• Full crew, master, crane, ballast, DP, trained as one integrated team.

• Market-wide confidence demonstrated to surveyors and certifying bodies.

• Simulator used as engineering development environment, not just training.
  

"We're able to prove to our crew, our clients, our marine warranty surveyors, certifying bodies, and indeed the entire market that we're ready to take this revolutionary vessel into operation."

Tyson Beilan, Expert Engineer @ DEME Group