Personnel Tracking Across Complex Offshore Environments

Offshore drilling vessels present demanding conditions for personnel safety management. Confined spaces, hazardous zones, and complex onboard operations make it important to maintain visibility of crew locations and support timely emergency response.

On an offshore drilling vessel operated by Turkish Petroleum Corporation, personnel safety requirements extended across both explosion-risk areas and enclosed cabin environments. The client needed a reliable way to track personnel in real time while accommodating the different operating conditions across the vessel.

The Challenge: Different Areas Require Different Positioning Approaches

The vessel's operating environment created several technical and safety requirements:

 · Maintaining personnel visibility in hazardous areas.

 · Tracking crew members across enclosed cabin spaces.

 · Supporting positioning where wiring was not feasible.

 · Improving situational awareness and emergency response readiness.

 · Meeting strict offshore safety requirements.

A single deployment approach was not suitable for every onboard environment. The solution needed to accommodate the distinct requirements of hazardous and enclosed areas.

The Solution: Hybrid Positioning with UWB and BLE

Woxu worked with a local partner to implement a hybrid positioning solution combining UWB and Bluetooth technologies.

UWB-based positioning was deployed in hazardous areas to provide high-precision, reliable personnel tracking under the applicable safety requirements. Bluetooth technology was used in enclosed cabin spaces where wiring was not feasible.

By combining these technologies, the system supports personnel tracking across different environments on the vessel.

Key capabilities include:

 · Hybrid Positioning (UWB + BLE): Adapt positioning technologies to different onboard environments.

 · Hazardous-Area Deployment: Support positioning deployments designed around the site's safety requirements.

 · Real-Time Personnel Tracking: Maintain visibility of crew locations.

 · Coverage Across Open and Enclosed Areas: Support tracking in different vessel environments.

 · Flexible Deployment: Accommodate areas where wiring is not feasible.

Deployment Scale

The project deployment included:

 · 180 anchors

 · 140 BLE beacons

 · 300 tags

These components supported the hybrid positioning deployment across the vessel's different operating environments.

Results: Personnel Visibility Across the Vessel

The solution enabled personnel tracking across both hazardous and enclosed environments, improving visibility of crew locations.

By enhancing situational awareness and supporting faster emergency response, the system helped the operator strengthen operational safety and support compliance with offshore safety requirements.

This case demonstrates how a hybrid positioning architecture can accommodate different environments within a single complex industrial facility.

Explore Offshore Personnel Tracking Solutions

Need to improve personnel visibility across hazardous and enclosed areas? Contact Woxu to discuss a hybrid positioning solution suited to your offshore environment and deployment requirements.