In this article, you will learn how to add, edit or replace a port and/or offshore base.  When setting up a case, it is important to have a port or offshore base as this is where your technicians can be located, and vessels can stay when idle.  

The images below show you the icons Shoreline uses to illustrate if you are using ports or offshore bases:   

     Port icon                                                                                                       Offshore base icon

Ideally, all ports and offshore bases you will use will be added in Input library.

Click the links to go directly to the information you're looking for:

Add a new base to a case

The first step to creating your case is to establish your offshore base or port. It is necessary to set at least one unique port used for hosting the vessels. You can set as many ports in the simulation as desired.

Follow these steps to add bases to a case: 

1. Go to Build → Bases

2. Click on the + ADD

3. Select  Port or Offshore Base

The list of bases shown below displays all of the bases in your input library

4. Click on the specific port or offshore base to add it to the case.

5. In the case that you are adding a 'new' offshore base, you will need to define the location. Place the base on a location manually by placing it on the map or by adding the location (Latitude/Longitude). 

PLEASE NOTE: Once a port has been added you will need to go to 'Edit' in order to add more information. Follow the steps below:

Edit a base

After adding a base, it is possible to edit. The available information you are able to edit depends on the base type. Information you can edit or add is:

  • Location
  • Cost
  • Weather
  • Capacity (Construction case only)    
Follow these steps to edit your port or base:

1. Go to Build → Bases  

2. Click on the port you want to edit or on the pencil icon to edit

When you click on 'Edit' the below screen will show for a port:

The 'Loadout berth capacity' represents the loadout capacity at the quayside to control how many vessels can loadout at the same time. The installation vessels will check for available berth space before travelling back to port from the wind farm or another base. This check is done before jacking down to go back to port and before starting their first mobilization. Once an installation vessel has no more activities scheduled, after arrival to base, it will free the reserved berth spot. For component transfer task the vessel also needs to check and reserve berth capacity before starting the load off; if there are no available berth spots, the vessel will have to wait until one becomes available. If 0 or null input, it is set as unlimited. The vessels affected by this are:

  • Component Transfer Vessel 
  • Anchor Handling Vessel 
  • Heavy Lift Vessel 
  • Cable Installation Vessel 
  • Feeder Vessel (barge)
  • Towing Vessel

This would be what you can edit in your offshore base:

3. Fill in or edit the inputs for your port: 

The following steps will cover how to add specific inputs to your port to get the best results.

PLEASE NOTE: The next steps are for your port. If you are editing an offshore base, the only input that is applicable is the location and weather. 

Parameters: 

Under parameters, you can adjust the location of your port.

  • Latitude & longitude: will define the location of the port 

    Number of repair slots: defined the number of available repair slots in the port used for repairing a turbine with a floating foundation 

    Loadout berth capacity: represents the loadout capacity at the quayside to control how many vessels can loadout at the same time

    Custom Route: allows you to define the route a vessel must follow when sailing from the port to the destination. Learn more about this here.

You can set the location of your port on the map by clicking 'Pick location on map'. Then, click on the map to place the port. It will lead you to parameter tab again with the new Latitude and Longitude coordinates. 

Capacity:

Capacity is only needed if you are constructing a wind farm regarding assembly. It is NOT to be used if you are running a simulation on O&M. This section will define how many of the assets fit in the port at one go before load out. 

Cost: 

This section is not necessary to run a simulation. It is nice to have and would mean you are able to include the cost in your outputs. The cost that you can include here are Currencies, annual cost of base staff, annual cost of facilities and annual other costs. 

Data Time Series

You can also add a cost time series, so your cost differentiates by year. This is done by clicking on the Open Time Data Series button.

Set your year range starting with 1 and how many years you want to simulate and click Update- the actual year is derived from the operational start year on the assets (if your operational start year is set to 2021-xx-xx, year 1 is 2021, year 2 is 2022 etc.), to which you can add the cost per year.

Weather:

This is one of the most important inputs to manage. Here you can load the weather file for the port. There are two ways you can load this file: Using imported weather data, or ERA5 weather data. Please see this article on how the two different weather files selections work.

If you select Apply everywhere you can add the same weather files to the full case.

Replace a base

In the case that a base is assigned to a case by mistake, it is possible to delete the base and add the correct one. It is also possible to replace a base. 
If you have not set up any other settings in your case, you can just delete and just add a new case. However, if you have already set up settings in other sections of your case e.g. logistics or assets, we recommend to 'replace' the base. This means we just replace the base but do not make changes to the settings everywhere else. 

1. Go to Build → Bases
2. Click on Replace

This will open the list of bases you have in your input library. Select the one you want. 

PLEASE NOTE: it is likely you will need to 'edit' the base to add any missing information. 

Duplicate a base

In any case with a base already added, you can duplicate the base, copying all existing parameters, including weather. This can be useful if you have two bases that share parameters, but, e.g., have different locations. Just copy the base, then edit the location of the duplicate.

  1. Go to Build >  Bases.
  2. Click the three-dot additional options menu icon.
  3. Click Create duplicate on case.

A duplicate of the base will appear, which you can edit as needed.