Saipem and Equinor complete record-breaking autonomous mission

Jan. 28, 2025

Saipem’s underwater intervention drone at the Equinor-operated offshore Njord field broke its own world record for longest subsea residency by almost 80 days.

Related To: Equinor

Saipem’s Hydrone-R underwater intervention drone at the Njord field in the Norwegian Sea broke its own world record for longest subsea residency by almost 80 days, according to a Jan. 28 LinkedIn post by , Equinor's e

The drone was recovered on Jan. 24, 2025, after being deployed since May 20, 2024. The new world record is 240 days, which was made on its second dive, while the previous and first dive was 165 days.

The Hydrone-R has been deployed at about 330 m depth at the Njord oil and gas field for two record breaking periods,

"It has been an important part of qualifying underwater robotics technology for Equinor’s subsea operations,"

The vehicle has also done its first completely untethered and autonomous operations when inspecting the subsea assets and seabed below Njord A and tested its leak inspections/detection capabilities. It did all this while performing its regular work scope as a work-class ROV supporting daily drill support activities.

Equinor will now focus more on autonomy missions.

The Njord field started production in 1997. Njord is located in the Norwegian Sea, 30 km west of Draugen and 130 km northwest of Kristiansund. The licensees are Wintershall Dea Norge AS (50%), Equinor Energy AS (27.5%, operator) and Neptune Energy Norge AS (22.5%).