Norway-based Tampnet, a notable player in the supply of private 4G and 5G networks for offshore industry, is working with US industrial edge outfit Armada to bring AI applications to offshore energy and power companies. Tampnet, headquartered in Stavanger, holds spectrum for private offshore cellular deployments at 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 2.6 GHz. It has a long-standing partnership with Ericsson for IoT and 4G/5G.
Tampnet and Armada have launched two solutions for offshore energy operations: a worker safety monitoring solution called OpsSafety to monitor PPE adherence, danger zone tracking, slip/trip/fall detection, and smoke and fire identification; and a predictive maintenance solution called OpsInsight to analyses unstructured sensor data to provide predictive and prescriptive insights to companies optimise performance and make smarter decisions.
More solutions will follow, they said.
For the purpose, they have jointly-designed a ‘spoke-and-hub’ architecture to balance on-rig processing with scalable on-shore compute, they said. This comprises an on-shore compute infrastructure (the hub), called Armada Galleon, which connects to multiple offshore rigs via private 5G or fibre. “This enables scalable compute for applications that require cross-rig insights while reducing the hardware footprint on the platforms themselves,” they said.
Besides, it features smaller on-rig compute racks (the spokes) to allow critical AI applications to run locally for safety monitoring, anomaly detection, and operational automation. A statement explained: “AI applications that require real-time, continuous processing – likely safety monitoring – run directly on the rig. Compute-intensive applications that analyse data across multiple rigs or require additional power can be offloaded to the Galleon.
“[This also saves] costs [versus] running the applications in the cloud. For energy companies operating multiple offshore platforms, the ability to synthesise data across offshore platforms and rigs provides a significant advantage – offering deeper insights, predictive maintenance at scale, and better decision-making.”
Elie Hanna, chief executive at Tampnet, said: “Armada’s full-stack compute platform is designed to deliver AI-powered insights directly where they’re needed while minimising infrastructure requirements on platforms, rigs and vessels. Our spoke-and-hub architecture will be a game-changer for energy operations. With this partnership, Tampnet adds an AI powered platform to its network architecture accelerating digitisation for our customers.”
Dan Wright, founder and chief executive at Armada, said: “Armada is built to bring real-world AI to the most challenging environments. By combining with Tampnet’s… offshore network, we’re creating a powerful platform that allows offshore energy companies to harness the full potential of their data – whether that’s real-time AI on the rig or large-scale insights across multiple platforms.”
Tampnet has offices in Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, the US, and Brazil. It manages a private 4G/5G network for Ørsted’s Hornsea One, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, 120 kilometres off the UK coast. Its 700 MHz spectrum license – gained in 2021, with spectrum also going to T-Mobile – covers the Dutch Continental Shelf in the North Sea, to support 5G connectivity and digital services for oil, gas, and wind assets, as well as for the coast guard, local fishing industry, and also for leisure activity.
It permits 5G coverage over 700 MHz spectrum “from twelve nautical miles offshore”.
