Inspection/maintenance

Baker Hughes Launches Remote Inspection Tool

The service company says its engageSubsea Remote platform provides real-time equipment-status information.

Illustration of engageSubsea Remote being lowered for inspection of subsea equipment

Baker Hughes has launched its engageSubsea Remote, an equipment inspection tool and technical support and operational management platform. The company says the new platform, which is an extension of its engageSubsea platform and part of its Subsea Connect suite of technologies, provides real-time information on equipment status and location.

Operators are under increasing pressure to cut costs and reduce rig time and downtime while improving efficiency and ensuring the continued safety of their operations. COVID-19 has magnified this pressure significantly by tightening budgets further while limiting travel and site visits during lockdown. Baker Hughes says it developed engageSubsea Remote in response to these challenges.

“We understand our customers’ challenges,” said Ben Linke, Baker Hughes’ vice president of services and offshore. “This sector is under constant pressure to improve performance and reduce costs, but, of course, safety must always remain the top priority. That’s why we developed engageSubsea Remote, which is especially valuable in the current environment where travel and site visits are restricted but inspection work remains critical.”

The engageSubsea Remote has already been deployed, including at sites in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Baker Hughes says the deployments resulted in improvements in time to first-time fix of 80%, improvements in resolution time of 69%, and overage cost savings of 50%.

“Ultimately, this solution is about optimizing offshore operations and reducing unnecessary exposure to risk, whether the pre-existing hazards of offshore work or the current pandemic,” Linke said.

Baker Hughes said it is in the process of expanding its use of engageSubsea in additional locations and for further use cases.