Subsea7 has marked an advancement in its pioneering remote piloting technology offering, by fully operating a workclass ROV from Scotland to carry out operations 9,400 km away, off the coast of Brazil.
The success of the project has proven that the technology and capabilities developed by Subsea7, can perform key inspection repair and maintenance (IRM) tasks under remote control with the potential to increase operational flexibility, according to the company.
Alan Gray , Subsea7’s ROV and autonomy manager, said: “This was a major milestone for Subsea7. The maturity of our remote piloting systems has been demonstrated here and shows how new technologies alongside new ways of working, can lead to more sustainable operations. Subsea7 has deployed remote piloting systems on ROVs in the North Sea region, but this demonstration was our first remote piloting operation conducted for Brazil.”
The operations phase, which included pipeline inspection and light intervention tasks, was part of an ongoing contract to provide IRM services for Petrobras.
The project involved a remote piloting upgrade of the workclass ROV system on board an ROV support vessel. Real-time remote control was achieved via a secure, high-speed, communications link to Subsea7’s Aberdeen Onshore Control Centre.
This latest technology advancement is among several research and development activities Subsea7 is focusing on, which also include remote survey and inspection capabilities and sustainable ways of working.