Hydromea, a Swiss underwater robotics company, and Air Control Entech (ACE), a Scotland-based remote technology company, formed a service partnership to commercialize Exray, the world’s first wireless underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV), for inspections at offshore floating platforms.
Under the deal, ACE will promote and use Hydromea’s Exray wireless ROV for inspections of ballast water tanks at floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels in the North Sea and Latin America. Hydromea said it will benefit from ACE’s certified offshore inspection team, as well as existing and new service contracts.
“We look forward to working together with ACE on delivering more cost-effective, efficient, and safer asset-integrity inspections by replacing or reducing the amount of time personnel are placed within hazardous environments to carry out critical inspections with cutting-edge robotics,” said Alexander Bahr, co-founder and chief operating officer of Hydromea.
The Exray wireless ROV allows for the safe inspections of complex and dangerous flooded spaces. Hydromea achieves this by eliminating the tether between the pilot and the inspection vehicle. This brings a significant improvement in the dexterity of the vehicle and eliminates the risk of entanglement during inspection of complex submerged infrastructures. Exray was developed with the support of the Net Zero Technology Centre in Scotland and TotalEnergies UK.
“Hydromea’s Exray wireless ROV is a true paradigm shift in underwater robotics, and we are honored to be the first company taking it to our clients,” Kieran Hope, co-founder and chief operating officer of ACE, said.