Offshore staff
SKUDENESHAVN, Norway — Solstad Offshore, DeepOcean Group and Østensjø Group have teamed up for a remotely managed services arrangement.
They have established two joint ventures (JVs):
- Remota AS, which will own and operate land-based remote operations centers; and
- The other JV will develop, own and operate unmanned surface vehicles (USVs).
“Teaming up will further enhance the capacity, growth prospects and market penetration of our remote operations offering,” said Solstad Offshore CEO Lars Peder Solstad. “Operators of offshore energy assets have challenged the supplier industry to deliver even more cost-efficient services.”
Håvard Framnes, investment director of Østensjø, added, “Remote operations are key to unlocking huge emission reductions and cost savings from the marine and offshore industries."
Remota, led by CEO Sveinung Soma, will develop/provide remote operations and semi-autonomous maritime services to existing vessels, and remote operations of ROVs and USVs. In addition, its remote operations center will serve as a control center for drone technologies.
It operates DeepOcean’s ROVs from Haugesund and has been supporting clients with subsea installations and inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) campaigns.
The center will operate independently of its three owners and offer its services to all operators, vessel owners and service companies worldwide.
In addition, the three partners plan to establish USV AS, a separate company for investing in USVs equipped with a work-class ROV onboard. This type of vessel, they said, can reduce operating expenses substantially compared to conventional vessels providing subsea IMR work.
DeepOcean has developed the USV technology, with the other two partners involved in the final stage of the development. They claim that the USV solution can reduce CO2-emissions by more than 90% compared to a conventional offshore vessel when performing subsea operations.
“By introducing USVs, we are moving the captain onshore who will remain in control over the offshore operations,” said DeepOcean CEO Øyvind Mikaelsen.
06.16.2022
