Offshore staff
ALKMAAR, the Netherlands — TAQA Netherlands and Fugro have completed an offshore integrity inspection campaign in the Dutch North Sea, using an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and electrical ROV (e-ROV).
Fugro deployed one of its Blue Essence USVs and a Blue Volta eROV for the survey, which was remotely controlled via a satellite link from onshore operations centers in the Netherlands and Aberdeen.
The pilot project involved inspection of two platforms and more than 40 km of offshore pipeline, and comprised a multi-beam survey, depth of burial, visual inspection and cathodic protection assessment of pipelines between various offshore platforms.
In addition, the Blue Essence vessel and the eROV performed remote structural inspections of certain platforms: visual checks, cathodic protection assessment and a scour survey, all within the 500-m zone to ensure the integrity of TAQA’s facilities.
Acquired geo-data, accessed in near-real time, was used to inspect the offshore facilities and the surrounding seabed environment.
The uncrewed integrity inspection resulted in a 95% reduction of CO2 emissions, the companies added, requiring only 5% of the fuel required by traditional manned offshore inspections.
Typically, these activities would deploy about 70 people onboard a surface vessel, so the safety risk was also said to be reduced.
01.30.2023
