Fugro, SEA KIT form subsea inspections venture – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

An AUV being recovered into a SEA-KIT uncrewed surface vessel.

(Courtesy Fugro)

Offshore staff

LEIDSCHENDAM, the Netherlands Fugro has entered a collaboration with SEA KIT International.

The latter will develop a new range of compact uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) that can deploy ROVs and AUVs for marine asset inspections.

The first USVs will be launched before the end of this year, with a larger USV model currently being designed for delivery in 2021. All are being developed alongside Fugros range of USVs for hydrographic data acquisition.

Mark Heine, CEO of Fugro, said: Together with other strategic alliances, this partnership represents a major acceleration to our strategy of leading the development of remote and autonomous solutions, which is key to delivering a safer and more sustainable approach to constructing and maintaining marine assets.

Fugro has built a network of seven remote operations centers (ROCs) globally to provide inspection and positioning services, including two recently opened centers in Aberdeen and Leidschendam.

By the end of 2020, the company believes it will be the first in the world to provide offshore subsea inspections via USVs and ROVs operated remotely from onshore ROCs.

The new range of USVs should consume up to 95% less fuel than traditional vessels, the company added, supporting the trend toward zero global emissions in the marine industry.

03/25/2020

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Fugro, SEA KIT form subsea inspections venture - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine