Fugro has completed its first fully remote offshore survey inspection in the North Sea for energy company TAQA using one of its Blue Essence uncrewed surface vessels (USV) with Blue Volta electric remotely operated vehicle (eROV).
The complex project, in Europe’s busiest part of the North Sea, involved the inspection of two platforms and over 40 kilometres of pipeline off the coast of the Netherlands.
The inspection investigated the mobility of the seabed, pipeline depth measurements, visual inspections and cathodic protection measurements within the 500-metre zone to ensure the integrity of TAQA’s assets. During operations, both Blue Essence USV and Blue Volta eROV were remotely controlled via satellite link by operatives at Fugro’s remote operations centres (ROC) in the Netherlands and Aberdeen. The acquired Geo-data was accessed in near real-time and used to inspect the offshore assets and surrounding seabed environment.
This project forms part of Fugro’s wider strategy towards more uncrewed operations for greater agility, sustainability and safer offshore inspections. Remote operations enable employees to work onshore in ROCs rather than in high-risk offshore environments, the carbon footprint of the USV is up to 95 % less than conventional support vessels and the client has access to near real-time data resulting in faster and more informed decision making.
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