Saab Seaeye upgrades ROV for Caspian duty

Offshore staff

FAREHAM, UK-- State oil company SOCAR has contracted a Cougar XT ROV from Saab Seaeye to assist its offshore programs in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea.

The ROV will be used for diving and pipeline inspection of current SOCAR projects, and for future seabed inspection as new pipes are laid. It also will inspect and survey vessels and platform legs.

According to Saab Seaeye, SOCAR has taken a high-spec version of the 2,000 m (6,561 ft) water depth-rated Cougar XT. It has an upgraded video package including two Kongsberg high-definition mono low-light cameras, two Kongsberg color zoom cameras, pan and tilt platform, and LED lighting.

The vehicle also is equipped with a suite from Tritech including a Super SeaKing Sonar with a dual-frequency profiling sonar head, a side scan sonar, an altimeter, and a Tritech bathymetric system.

There are two five-function heavy duty manipulators, a grabber jaw, camera boom adaptors for the manipulators with a Seaeye color camera fitted, a water jetting system, cleaning brush assembly, a 4-in. (10-cm) hydraulic rotary disc cutter, 38 mm (1.5-in.) anvil cutter, Cygnus ultrasonic thickness gauge, and CP probes.

The ROV will be launched from a stainless steel tether management system, and deployed via a crane-style launch and recovery system, supplied with a bullet/swivel assembly and lock latch assembly.

11/01/2010