Saipem is set to make a splash as the first company in the world to bring underwater drone technology to market. In a statement dated October 2, the Italian company said it had signed a contract with Norway’s Equinor for the use of two Hydrone vehicles.
According to the statement, the contract provides for Sonsub, a subsidiary of Saipem, to deploy two remotely controlled Hydrone units at Njord, an offshore field in the Norwegian Sea that has been assigned to Equinor. The first unit, Hydrone-R, will begin operations in the first quarter of 2020, followed by Hydrone-W in 2021.
Both vessels will provide a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) and unique identification (UID) services to support Equinor’s drilling operations at Njord. They will also be used to carry out inspections and interventions on the field’s subsea assets, including flowlines, riser bases, umbilicals and pipeline end mainfolds (PLEMs).
Francesco Racheli, chief operating officer of Saipem’s E&C Offshore Division, described the contract as ground-breaking, saying: “Today, we are making the history of subsea robotics. Our visionary Hydrone program, launched back in 2015, has proven to perfectly match Equinor’s challenging requirements.”