Offshore Europe 2023: Oceaneering acquires Exail’s DriX USV for remote survey scopes

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN – Oceaneering International has announced at Offshore Europe that its Subsea Robotics group is introducing a new uncrewed surface vessel (USV) service to support remote survey work scopes.

Exail and Oceaneering reached an agreement where Oceaneering will purchase its first DriX USV to support deepwater geophysical and asset inspection operations, including autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) positioning, and offshore and nearshore surveys.

The use of the DriX USV on offshore survey and inspection work scopes will enable Oceaneering to improve operational efficiencies, reduce overall vessel time on site, and significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Oceaneering’s USV service offering will utilize dual independent positioning correction services from Oceaneering’s C-NAV group for uninterrupted operations, thereby improving reliability. Oceaneering says that its service will be the only USV equipped with dual redundancy for guaranteed continuity of service.

The USV's shape and stability is said to allow for continued operations alongside Oceaneering’s AUVs in poor sea conditions found offshore (up to sea state 5), without compromising data quality.

09.05.2023