Page 58: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Oct/Nov 2014)

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Subsea

Testing the watersTesting the waters technology integration process,’ and the technology integration process,’ and the

Elaine Maslin reports on Subsea Elaine Maslin reports on Subsea trials anticipate the development of trials anticipate the development of 7’s new autonomous future AIV applications with which inspection vehicle and an to support the inspection of Shell’s subsea facilities,” Subsea 7 said.

AUV speci? cation that has

For the purposes of the trial, the been put out for tender by

AIV system was incorporated into

French major Total.

the vessel’s deployment systems and the vessel’s deployment systems and launched through the vessel’s moon-launched through the vessel’s moon- ife-of-? eld autonomous under- ife-of-? eld autonomous under- pool. The trials were conducted in paral-pool. The trials were conducted in paral- water vehicles (AUV), able to water vehicles (AUV), able to lel with planned inspection tasks being lel with planned inspection tasks being

L remain subsea for long dura- conducted by Subsea 7 ROVs, which conducted by Subsea 7 ROVs, which tions and perform inspection, and were also deployed from the vessel.were also deployed from the vessel.

potentially intervention operations, has potentially intervention operations, has The trial included a series of deploy-The trial included a series of deploy- Pipeline inspection AUV

Subsea 7’s AIV. Images from Subsea 7.

ment and recovery missions, with been a dream for the offshore oil and gas Total E&P, which has long been work- autonomous subsea launch and basket development partner SeeByte’s complex industry. ing on AUV technology under the Deep dockings, fully autonomous navigation navigation software, which, using sen- Two such dreams are nearing reality in Offshore Project, with Chevron and and inspection activities. sors, can recognize subsea infrastructure Europe, where an autonomous inspection others, has developed a full speci? cation “Data was also obtained and will be con? gurations. By comparing what it sees vehicles (AIV) has been put through its for an AUV system capable of perform- used to supplement and support ? nal to its world model, the vehicle knows ? rst offshore trials on a North Sea ? eld, ing a complete pipeline inspection, further development activities within the where it is and complete its mission. It and an AUV speci? cation has been put according to a presentation at this year’s ongoing AIV program,” Subsea 7 said. can also hover on station, making it use- out for tender by French major Total. Underwater Technology Conference

The AIV has been designed using ful for riser and pipeline analysis. The AIV is the work of Subsea 7. A (UTC) in Bergen. computational ? uid dynamics and has It is a project that has been in develop- life-of-? eld concept, Subsea 7’s aim is for It is a key requirement for Total and a unique station-keeping system and ment for about six years, with tank test- the AIV to be deployed from a basket- many other operators with subsea infra- remote decision-making software. The ing and then trials in Loch Linnhe, and based launch system, which could be structure. Total’s Subsea Intervention

MK-1 speci? cation was rated to 3000m offshore Peterhead, Scotland. July saw positioned on the seabed, a platform, or Specialist Amin Nasr, said at UTC in water depth, and could run for 24 hours, the system successfully complete its ? rst vessel, from which it could be sent on June, that Total has more than 3000km of or a 40,000m excursion, depending on offshore mission, in the North Sea for inspection missions without the need for offshore pipelines, all requiring inspec- conditions. A future development of the Shell, from Subsea 7’s Normand Subsea. a tether or support vessel, as is the case tion services as part of the ? rm’s asset

AIV could see intervention equipment “The ? eld operational tests were part for ROVs. Its difference from an AUV, integrity management. added, increasing its capabilities and of an ongoing proving and acceptance of says Subsea 7, is that it has intelligent Total’s vision is an AUV, deploy- potential applications. the Subsea 7 AIV as part of Shell’s ‘new decision-making capabilities, using able from a number of platforms, with a

AUV’s survey Apache’s assets

UTEC Survey’s Australian business unit completed a major in? eld inspection covering 550km of pipelines and 20 in? eld structures, o