Almost 7,000 visits were made to Europe’s largest subsea event, Subsea Expo, held in Aberdeen last week, despite the industry facing its toughest year ever.

The exhibition and conference, organized by Subsea UK, attracted just under 5,000 individual delegates, many of whom visited more than once over the three days. International delegates flew in from all corners of the world, including Africa, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria and the US.

Chief executive of Subsea UK, Neil Gordon, said: “A clear message from the show was that we have to get fit for $30 oil. We cannot keep hoping that the price, and therefore investment and activity, will pick up in a year or so. Transforming the way we work is crucial. A large dose of vision and courage from the leaders in our industry is needed to achieve the behavioral changes that will ensure we are profitable and sustainable at $30. The good news is that we can do this but it’s not going to be easy. Much greater collaboration will drive standardization and simplification which are key to getting the cost base down. The subsea sector is up for the challenge and there was real evidence of this type of collaboration in action during Subsea Expo.”

A number of companies launched technology at the show. Xodus unveiled its new asset lifecycle screening tool HAWXEYE at the event. Graeme Rogerson, operations director at Xodus Group said: “Subsea Expo has been the ideal venue to not only showcase our new HAWXEYE technology but also demonstrate and discuss our agile way of working in this cost-constrained climate. The mood at the show has been buoyant and very much focused on the need to look at new ways of working to adapt to this ‘new norm’.”