This project forms part of Fugro’s wider strategy toward more uncrewed operations for greater agility, sustainability, and safer offshore inspections. Remote operations enable employees to work onshore in remote operations centers rather than in high-risk offshore environments. In addition, the carbon footprint of the uncrewed surface vessel is up to 95 % smaller than conventional support vessels, and the client has access to near-real-time data.
Fugro has completed its first fully remote offshore survey inspection in the North Sea for energy company TAQA using one of its Blue Essence uncrewed surface vessels with the Blue Volta electric remotely operated vehicle.
The complex project, in Europe’s busiest part of the North Sea, involved the inspection of two platforms and more than 40 km of pipeline off the coast of the Netherlands.
The inspection included seabed mobility investigation, pipeline depth measurement, visual inspections, and cathodic protection measurements within the 500-m zone to ensure the integrity of TAQA’s assets. During operations, both the Blue Essence uncrewed surface vessel and the Blue Volta electric remotely operated vessel were remotely controlled via satellite link by operatives at Fugro’s remote operations centers in the Netherlands and Aberdeen. The acquired geo-data was accessed in near real time and used to inspect the offshore assets and surrounding seabed environment.