UK-based ROV service provider ROVOP has announced that it has delivered its first platform-based inspection, repair and maintenance work telescope on Premier Oil’s floating production vessel Balmoral in the UK’s North Sea, with the “number of times offshore required employees can be effectively reduced “.
The ROV company performed remote visual and NDT inspections of hull sections, flow lines, utilities, and risers, as well as chain inspections, measurements, and cleans on the Balmoral unit using a live video stream.
“Using the latest in communication and modeling technology, ROVOP worked closely with Premier Oil to develop a robust live video streaming service back to shore. The bi-directional open communication enabled the inspection and data recording engineers to remotely control the work telescope from onshore which resulted in three fewer people on board the ship where accommodation is limited due to restrictions imposed by COVID, “ROVOP said.
Premier Oil, who said it on Tuesday would merge with Chrysaorsubmitted the decommissioning plan for the Balmoral FPV and associated underwater infrastructure last month. The Balmoral platform was installed in the Balmoral area in 1986.
According to ROVOP, the cloud-based viewing platform enabled employees to view the inspection work from home.
“They were able to see exactly what the ROV and inspection engineers were seeing in real time. Data that would have taken weeks to return from offshore for analysis was captured as those watching ashore could influence the operation live. The campaign was much more efficient to do, “said ROVOP.Photo credit: ROVOP
ROVOP has also selected underwater mooring inspection and integrity engineering specialist Welaptega, an Ashtead Technology company, to support the project. Welaptega’s photogrammetry equipment for mooring inspection and 3-D modeling has been incorporated into the ROV for accurate and repeatable chain measurement and 3-D modeling of the underwater template.
The point cloud data generated will be used to aid in template removal planning, ROVOP said.
The main components of the Balmoral field consist of: the Balmoral FPV, Balmoral Template, 11 templates and 10 satellite wells, a riser system, pipelines, utilities and cables.
Paul Hudson, ROVOP’s Director of Sales and Marketing, said, “Reducing the number of employees offshore has clear benefits in terms of risk, cost and overall efficiency. This is of course particularly important when it comes to the challenges facing the offshore business. Industry from the coronavirus pandemic. This project highlights how digitization and collaboration can address some of our most pressing challenges in the industry. “
David Robertson, Dive and ROV Engineer at Premier Oil added, “This is a fantastic achievement for ROVOP and Premier Oil. Through a lot of hard work and collaboration with the respective network technology companies, we have succeeded in reducing the risk of employees traveling to an offshore facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Performing this kind of work from an installation is always a challenge due to the space required in the bed. We have proven that inspection work can be carried out with a significant reduction in the workforce offshore, potentially paving the way for cost and greenhouse gas reductions in our other assets in the future. “
Photo credit: Premier Oil
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