Freedom AUV completes North Sea pipeline trials for TotalEnergies

Offshore staff

HOUSTON — TotalEnergies and Oceaneering International have completed a pipeline inspection pilot program in the North Sea using a Freedom AUV.

According to Oceaneering, the technology can acquire datasets at a significantly increased speed compared with legacy ROV pipeline inspection methods.

The program inspected more than 120 km of submarine pipelines, on top of the 60 km of near-shore pipelines inspected during an earlier demonstration for TotalEnergies.

Freedom was able to detect and track the pipeline while maintaining a defined flight envelope above the pipe. The vehicle acquired the data in a single pass of the pipelines.

The onboard autonomous capabilities and instrumentation, which include a laser scanning system and multi-beam sonar technology, provide a detailed external inspection of subsea pipeline features, Oceaneering said.

Autonomous pipeline tracking capability also ensured that the Freedom remained directly above the pipeline at low altitudes, enabling a detailed external view of the pipelines and the surrounding seafloor.

Upon completion of the inspection missions, onboard automated data processing allowed an assessment of the mission’s effectiveness, the company added, along with confirmation of the pipeline condition.

05.30.2024