Driving Safer and Greener Data Acquisition

In March 2021, it was announced that marine robotics company Ocean Infinity had acquired industry-leading survey company, MMT. Together, these two companies combine huge ambition, best-in-class robotic technology, and an unrivalled track record in the offshore industry.

With many offshore operators now looking to pivot towards uncrewed technology to unlock a safer and more sustainable future, the freshly expanded Ocean Infinity group holds all the keys.

WORLD-CLASS INNOVATION WITH UNRIVALLED EXPERIENCE

With more than 40 years’ experience, MMT has developed a team of experts comprising marine geologists, geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, biologists, offshore and project managers, surveyors, oceanographers, hydrographers and ROV pilots. The team’s extensive catalogue of more than 800 successfully completed offshore data acquisition projects have been delivered for a long list of energy operators including Ørsted, Equinor, SSE Renewables, bp and Shell.

Ocean Infinity started making waves in 2016 when it became the first company to deploy 8 AUVs to offer its clients seabed data on an unprecedented scale and at speeds not seen before. Since then, the Company has expanded its fleet of marine robotics to include USVs and ROVs, before its ground-breaking announcement in 2020 that it was embarking on the development of the world’s largest fleet of uncrewed and optionally crewed vessels for offshore operations.

Due to be operational next year, ‘Armada’ will be a fleet of at least 17 exceptionally fuel-efficient, onshore-controlled vessels.

“The impact and the scale of this robotic fleet will spark the biggest transformation the maritime industry has seen since sail gave way to steam. With our new fleet we will be able to provide sustainable services to all corners of the industry from offshore energy, to logistics and transport” said Oliver Plunkett, CEO, Ocean Infinity.

SAFER OFFSHORE OPERATION WITH REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The vessels will be remotely operated from Ocean Infinity’s state-of-the-art facility in Southampton, UK. Each vessel will be permanently equipped with a suite of market-leading sensors for marine data acquisition.

The initial vessels in the fleet will carry dual-head high-resolution multibeam echosounders for collecting detailed bathymetric information, all mounted in a hydrodynamic subsea gondola along with high-specification inertial navigation systems and other geophysical and oceanographic sensor packages. As the Armada fleet vessels are larger than existing USVs on the market, they have the capability to push the scale of uncrewed and remote data acquisition further offshore into harsher environments, and on missions with longer durations.

In addition to these vessel-mounted sensors, the increase in size of the vessels enables other technical payloads to be mobilized. From towed geophysical and seismic survey equipment, through to work-class ROVs for Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) projects, each of the equipment options for the Armada vessels is being optimized for control, data acquisition and operation over a remote satellite link, working towards a genuine uncrewed and remote replacement for a wide range of conventional data acquisition campaigns.

All of Ocean Infinity’s technical development is based around the belief that there is a safer, more sustainable, and more efficient way of collecting the information required to support offshore projects. The areas of focus are topics such as dynamic bandwidth prioritization, communications robustness and redundancy, and remote and automated data quality monitoring capability; all of which enable delivery of the highest quality information to those that really need it by utilizing cloud-based technology.

One success factor for uncrewed operation is having Artificial Intelligence (AI) support the remote operations center. The AI field using deep learning has seen massive improvements over recent years for both self-driving platforms as well as automated data interpretation. MMT has been pioneering the field in the subsea industry and has acquired extensive hands-on experience over the years. Together with the expertise in the

Ocean Infinity Group, the Armada fleet will include several automated systems increasing the on-board automated processing routines. This will not only provide preliminary results to the client but also allow the remote data processor to focus on quality assurance.

The shift to remote and automated data acquisition lends itself to greater levels of engagement by clients and stakeholders, as instant access to data and involvement in the decision-making process makes sure that the answers Ocean Infinity provides are available at an earlier stage in the project lifecycle. Combine this with an onshore facility with greater levels of comfort, connectivity, welfare and engagement, not to mention a reduction in travel and time spent away from loved ones, and the argument for a rapid transition to uncrewed and remote-controlled data acquisition becomes even more compelling.

The final piece of the puzzle is possibly the most important—ensuring that the projects Ocean Infinity carries out have the least possible impact on our environment. Thanks to the most modern hybrid engines available, and a focused effort to reduce the emissions of vessels and operations, all Armada operations will be fully carbon neutral. The minimal emissions produced will all be completely offset through an independently verified active reforesting scheme, ensuring that the use of the Armada fleet is the greenest possible approach to data collection.

As the remote capabilities of the industry mature even further, and with a shift towards ‘Data-as-a-Service’ (DaaS) style contracting, the approach taken by Ocean Infinity allows greater levels of efficiency and sustainability to be realized by stakeholders, developers and operators by utilizing fleet technology and leveraging the use of robotic and remote data acquisition.

The entirety of the Ocean Infinity Group is excited for the ground-breaking Armada fleet to become operational, with the first 21 m and 36 m vessels coming online next year, to deliver the safest and most environmentally friendly solutions across the industry.

For further information on Ocean Infinity’s services, visit oceaninfinity.com and get in touch at info@oceaninfinity.com.

This story was originally featured in ON&T June 2021. Click here to read more.