Oceaneering carries out first ROV remote piloting offshore UK

Oceaneering has carried out the first onshore remote piloting of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the UK sector from its Onshore Remote Operations Center (OROC) in Stavanger, Norway.

Oceaneering was tasked with observing drilling operations at bp’s Clair Ridge facility West of Shetland, at 141 meters water depth. The operation ran from 20 July to 5 August.

According to the company, the project was the first implementation of ROV remote piloting in the UK, the first cross-border implementation, and the first operational implementation for bp.

The Stavanger-based remote piloting team operated the ROV for over 70 hours during the campaign program with 100% uptime.

Oceaneering and bp worked together to ensure secure offshore connectivity for the remote ROV piloting operations. This is said to have required a complex setup process to establish a bridge between the data networks of both companies, without compromising their respective cyber security policies. The result of the collaboration established a secure data link via subsea optical fiber to the worksite offshore.

“The success of this innovative solution at Clair Ridge builds increased credibility and familiarity to remote ROV operations. By using experts located onshore in Norway instead of offshore personnel, the safety risk was reduced,” said Tom Fuller, VP Wells at bp North Sea.

“It’s also a great example of how remote technologies can deliver emissions reductions on our assets, aligning with bp’s ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner. This project has helped bp to better understand the benefits and challenges of implementing remotely piloted ROVs – learnings that we can take forward into future opportunities here and across our global operations.”