Experienced Marine Support from Contract Award to Completion

During a complex marine project, the owner must continually evaluate technical issues, contractor proposals, schedule impacts, changes, risks and competing priorities.

Helm can act as an extension of the owner's project team, providing experienced marine professionals to help protect the owner's technical and project interests throughout delivery.

The level of support can be tailored to the project, from a single specialist advisor to a multidisciplinary owner's team.

• Owner's representation
• Project management
• Technical advisory
• Engineering coordination
• Shipyard liaison
• Contractor coordination
• Progress monitoring
• Schedule review
• Cost monitoring
• Change management
• Technical issue resolution
• Risk management
• Quality oversight
• Testing and acceptance
• Project reporting
• Close-out

Owners do not always require another design organization. They may require experienced technical professionals capable of understanding the design, challenging assumptions, evaluating proposed solutions and advising the owner on technical decisions.

Helm can provide Owner's Technical Advisor or Owner's Engineer services throughout engineering, procurement and construction.

The objective is to provide the owner with an informed, independent technical perspective as the project progresses.

• Owner requirements management
• Engineering oversight
• Design review
• Technical submission review
• Equipment and system evaluation
• Regulatory and classification coordination
• Technical risk assessment
• Design change review
• Constructability considerations
• Specification compliance
• Technical clarification
• Testing and acceptance requirements
• Technical recommendations to the owner

New vessel construction involves thousands of interconnected technical and project decisions.

Requirements established during early design must remain visible as detailed engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning progress.

Helm can support owners throughout new vessel construction by providing technical and project resources appropriate to the scale and complexity of the project.

Helm can work alongside the owner's internal team, naval architects, engineering firms, shipyards, classification societies and equipment suppliers to maintain alignment with the owner's objectives.

• Project management
• Owner's representation
• Design and engineering review
• Technical coordination
• Shipyard oversight
• Equipment and vendor review
• Regulatory and classification coordination
• Schedule and progress monitoring
• Quality surveillance
• Change management
• Technical issue resolution
• Test and trial support
• Commissioning
• Acceptance and delivery
• Project close-out

Major refits and vessel life extensions present challenges that are different from new construction.

Existing conditions may not match drawings. Access can be restricted. Removing equipment may expose unforeseen deterioration or interferences. New systems must integrate with older equipment, and changes can quickly affect other areas of the work.

Helm brings practical marine engineering and project experience to these environments.

Our focus is on helping the owner make timely, informed decisions as conditions evolve during execution.

• Pre-refit planning
• Work scope development
• Engineering coordination
• Shipyard oversight
• Existing-condition assessment
• Technical issue resolution
• Regulatory and classification coordination
• Schedule monitoring
• Change management
• Cost review
• Quality surveillance
• Deficiency management
• Testing and trials
• Commissioning
• Return-to-service support

Conversions and major vessel modifications can affect structure, machinery, electrical systems, automation, stability, regulatory compliance and vessel operations simultaneously.

Successful delivery requires these interfaces to be actively managed.

Helm can coordinate the technical and project requirements associated with major vessel changes, including:

The objective is to ensure that individual modifications come together as a complete, functional vessel solution.

• Project definition
• Engineering coordination
• Design review
• Equipment integration
• Regulatory and classification requirements
• Procurement support
• Installation oversight
• Shipyard coordination
• Change management
• Technical issue resolution
• Testing
• Commissioning
• Certification support

Owners need timely, reliable information from the worksite.

Helm can provide experienced marine personnel to monitor work, identify emerging issues and support communication between the owner, shipyard, engineering team and other project participants.

Issues identified early are generally easier to resolve than issues discovered during testing or delivery.

• On-site owner's representation
• Progress monitoring
• Technical inspections
• Workmanship review
• Specification compliance
• Drawing and technical submission review
• Contractor coordination
• Schedule monitoring
• Quality surveillance
• Regulatory and classification interfaces
• Change identification
• Deficiency tracking
• Test witnessing
• Progress reporting
• Acceptance support

Project reporting should do more than document what happened.

Effective project controls help the owner understand current status, emerging risks, required decisions and the potential consequences of change.

The objective is clear, decision-useful information rather than reporting for its own sake.

• Project schedules
• Milestone tracking
• Progress measurement
• Cost monitoring
• Forecasting
• Risk registers
• Issue tracking
• Change logs
• Decision tracking
• Deliverable tracking
• Action registers
• Progress reporting
• Management reporting

Change is inevitable in complex marine projects, particularly when working with existing vessels.

The challenge is to understand the full consequence of a proposed change before committing to it.

Helm can help owners assess changes from multiple perspectives:

A disciplined approach to change helps maintain control while allowing the project to respond to legitimate technical and operational requirements.

• Technical necessity
• Scope
• Cost
• Schedule
• Regulatory and classification requirements
• Operational impact
• Engineering implications
• Interfaces with other work
• Alternative solutions
• Contractual considerations
• Testing and acceptance

Marine projects contain technical, commercial, regulatory, schedule and delivery risks.

Helm works with owners and project teams to identify, assess and manage these risks throughout execution.

Risk management should be an active project tool—not simply a register maintained for reporting purposes.

• Project risk registers
• Technical risk assessment
• Regulatory risks
• Schedule risks
• Procurement and supply-chain risks
• Contractor performance risks
• Interface risks
• Emerging issue management
• Mitigation planning
• Decision support
• Escalation and reporting

Quality assurance on marine projects requires an understanding of both the specification and the technical purpose behind it.

Helm can provide technical oversight throughout construction, installation and commissioning to help verify that work conforms to project requirements.

Quality assurance is most effective when it is built into the project from the beginning—not applied as a final check.

• Quality planning
• Inspection and Test Plan review
• Technical inspections
• Material and equipment verification
• Workmanship review
• Specification compliance
• Deficiency identification
• Corrective-action follow-up
• Regulatory and classification requirements
• Test witnessing
• Documentation review
• Acceptance support

Testing and commissioning are critical stages of project delivery.

They demonstrate whether installed equipment and systems perform as intended, integrate correctly with the vessel and satisfy contractual, regulatory and operational requirements.

Where appropriate, Helm can become involved during project planning to ensure that acceptance requirements are clearly established before construction begins.

• Factory Acceptance Testing
• Installation inspections
• Harbour Acceptance Testing
• Dock trials
• Sea trials
• System commissioning
• Performance testing
• Regulatory and classification witnessing
• Deficiency management
• Retesting
• Acceptance documentation
• Operational handover
• Final technical close-out

Physical completion of the work does not necessarily mean the project is complete.

Outstanding deficiencies, drawings, manuals, certificates, training, spares, test records and other technical deliverables can remain unresolved after the vessel leaves the shipyard.

Helm can support structured project close-out, including:

A disciplined close-out helps ensure that the owner receives not only the vessel, but the information and documentation required to operate and maintain it.

• Deficiency resolution
• Outstanding work tracking
• Final testing
• Regulatory and classification documentation
• As-built and redlined drawings
• Manuals and technical documentation
• Certificates
• Spare parts and special tools
• Training requirements
• Warranty items
• Contract deliverables
• Final acceptance
• Lessons learned
• Return-to-service support