The Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility on Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island that will serve as the future home of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic.
Ocean services provider DeepOcean has been awarded the Offshore Technology Conference’s (OTC) 2024 Spotlight on New Technology Award for its Autonomous Inspection Drone (AID).
The Spotlight on New Technology Award is given to OTC exhibitors who are reshaping the offshore energy sector through their innovation and development of technologies. This year’s award recipients were selected based on the following criteria: Product uniqueness, degree of ingenuity, demonstrated success, commercial viability, and the ability to make a significant impact across the offshore industry.
“The objective of the AID is to perform subsea inspection work more cost-efficiently while also extracting better and more precise data quality, which adds significant value to operators. We are delighted that OTC recognises the AID’s impact potential through this prestigious award,” says Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean.
Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean. (Image credit: DeepOcean)
The AID project is a strategic partnership between DeepOcean, Argus Remote systems and Vaarst where a system has been developed with industry guidance, support, and funding from Aker BP to bring a platform to market.
The AID is based on a Rover MK2 ROV from Argus Remote Systems, with upgraded hardware and software packages. Argus is responsible for the AID platform and navigation algorithm. DeepOcean is responsible for the digital twin platform, mission planner software and live view of the AID in operation, while Vaarst is responsible for machine vision camera “Subslam 2x” for autonomous navigation and data collection.
The AID measures 1.25 x 0.85 x 0.77 meters and weighs 320 kilograms in air and can operate in water depths down to 3,000 meters. It can fly in DP mode and has both station keeping and remote-control functionalities.
The inspection data from the AID is streamed onshore and the position of the vehicle is continuously being streamed back into the digital twin to ensure high data quality and increase situational awareness.
Last year, the AID successfully completed subsea trials at the Aker BP operated Alvheim field in the central North Sea. As part of a ten-day inspection campaign, Aker BP and DeepOcean inspected subsea trees and other subsea infrastructure. The mission control was supervised both locally from the Edda Fauna vessel and remotely from Remota’s remote operations centre (ROC) in Haugesund, Norway.
“Our experience from the Alvheim job and subsequent inspection work confirm that the AID is capable of realising substantial reductions in operating costs, emissions and HSE risk for operators,” adds Øyvind Mikaelsen.
The 2024 Spotlight on New Technology Award recipients will be honored at this year’s OTC conference on Monday, 6 May at NRG Center in Houston, Texas, USA.
The offshore substation of Eoliennes en Mer Iles d’Yeu et de Noirmoutier wind farm, a project developed by Ocean Winds (an ENGIE and EDPR joint venture), is ready to be installed at sea.
Ocean Winds, an international company dedicated to offshore wind energy and created as a 50-50 joint venture by EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has been granted a feasibility license by the Australian Government for a 150 km2 area to develop an offshore wind farm in waters off Gippsland, Victoria. These clean energy projects, the first offshore wind ones in Australia, will play a key role in reaching Victoria’s targets of 95% of renewable energy by 2035 with at least 2 GW of offshore wind generation capacity by 2032, 4 GW by 2035 and 9 GW by 2040.
Fugro is the proud winner of two Spotlight on New Technology Awards, which were being presented at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston on May 6. This double win underscores Fugro's commitment to innovation by delivering solutions that enable safer, more efficient and more sustainable energy development. The award-winning technologies were evaluated for their product uniqueness, ingenuity, demonstrated success, commercial viability and potential for industry-wide impact.
Norwegian subsea technology company Optime Subsea has been awarded a contract by Aker BP to develop and deliver five Remotely Operated Controls Systems (ROCS) for use on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
The Chouest group announce its acquisition of ROVOP, a leading remotely operated vehicle (ROV) compaany. With this acquisition, Chouest, alongside its subsea service company, C-Innovation, will now control a fleet of over 100 ROVs and 6 autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Subsea 7 S.A. has announced the signing of a new long-term strategic collaboration agreement between Equinor and Subsea Integration Alliance (which comprises Subsea7 and OneSubsea). The agreement, which was signed on May 2 in Stavanger, Norway, represents an innovative, integrated way of working. It enables early information sharing and other collaborative benefits critical to unlocking subsea projects by making them economically viable. Building on their experience as members of Subsea Integration Alliance, this agreement also further cements Subsea7 and OneSubsea’s positions as trusted contractors to Equinor.
Seatrium Limited (Seatrium) announces that it has secured a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) topsides integration contract from longstanding customer, Offshore Frontier Solutions Pte. Ltd., a MODEC Group company.
The Ras al-Khair Special Economic Zone (SEZ) aims to host the largest shipyard in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), leveraging partnerships with major maritime players and backing by the Saudi government to attract investment. The SEZ is based in the city of Ras al-Khair on the eastern Arabian Gulf coast of the Kingdom, just north of al-Jubail Industrial City – home to the world’s fourth largest petrochemical company: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
Wood, a global leader in consulting and engineering, has been awarded a new decarbonization contract by TotalEnergies (TEPUK) to support flare gas recovery in the North Sea.
Unique Group, global innovators in subsea technologies and engineering, has announced the strategic acquisition of subsea technology and equipment manufacturer, Subsea Innovation. The deal elevates Unique Group’s global engineering capabilities, enhances its portfolio and further strengthens the organization’s focus on engineering excellence and technology development.
South African Nouum Engineering, a leading provider of diesel engine services for marine, power, locomotive, and generators globally and Mauritius-based ship repair and conversion yard Taylor Smith Shipyard have signed a cooperation agreement, expanding both companies’ commercial and operational scopes.
Technology group Wärtsilä’s unique decarbonization services have been chosen to support Tristar Eships, the maritime logistics division of the Dubai-based Tristar Group, in decarbonizing its operations. Wärtsilä’s decarbonization services will initially be applied to two tankers in the company’s fleet and is tailored to create a significant reduction in their carbon emissions.
Solstad Offshore announces contract awards from Clients in the offshore energy markets with a combined duration of approx. 600 days (inclusive of mobilization and demobilization) and a gross value of approx. NOK 800 million.
In a significant stride towards quality excellence and conformity, Pelagus 3D has achieved International Standard requirements ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001: 2018 certifications across its global operations.
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