How remote can remote operations become? Find out in this E&P Tech Trends with Hart Energy LIVE.
For years, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) pilots have directed the actions of their underwater robots from a nearby vessel or platform. But all that’s changing with a battery-powered ROV that can be operated from an onshore control room.
Since 2019, Oceaneering’s Liberty E-ROV has been piloted from one of ten onshore ROV control rooms around the world for more than 14,000 hours.
Separately, TD Williamson had been developing a remote control system for its SmartPlug isolation tool. Then, in March of 2022, the two paired up to help Equinor decommission a pair of subsea pipelines in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea in around 185 meters of water.
The project required testing ahead of time to ensure the SmartPlug pipeline isolation tools and Oceaneering’s Liberty ROV could communicate with each other.
Since that collaboration, Oceaneering and TDW have teamed up to support additional decommissioning projects from onshore control rooms.
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