Flatfish inspection drone set for ultradeepwater trials offshore Brazil
Saipem has provided an update on activities related to its FlatFish underwater inspection drone, which has been under a development/testing contract awarded by Petrobras in 2023.
The Functional Acceptance Tests, conducted in a controlled environment, were designed to verify that all functions stipulated by Petrobras, from mission autonomy to data quality, complied with set technical and operational standards prior to deployment offshore.
Trials took place at Saipem’s underwater drone test site in Trieste, northeast Italy, witnessed by Petrobras representatives.
During the campaign, the drone executed multiple fully autonomous inspection missions, which included structure and pipeline inspections, cathodic protection measurements, and wall‑thickness assessments.
Results were positive, Saipem said, leading Petrobras to issue approval to proceed with the project’s final phase of the project, the aim being full implementation of the FlatFish technology in a real ultradeepwater offshore setting in Brazil.
FlatFish is part of Saipem’s “Hydrone” underwater robotics program. The company is seeking to industrialize a range of underwater robotic vehicles that can take on complex, autonomous inspection tasks in water depths of up to 3,000 m.
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About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.