HOUSTON – Sulmara Subsea says that it has successfully completed a pipeline inspection survey offshore Trinidad for BHP Petroleum, now Woodside Energy, utilizing an unmanned survey vessel (USV).
The WAM-V 16 (wave adaptive modular vessel) is a class of autonomous watercraft that uses unique suspension technology to improve seagoing capabilities.
Prior to the project, Sulmara says that it conducted extensive sea trials stateside to ensure peak performance of the system.
As a result, the company was able to complete the high-resolution shallow-water survey utilizing side scan sonar, a sub bottom profiler, and multibeam echo sounder without the use of a traditional survey vessel, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint for the project.