Belov Engenharia orders fleet of Leopard ROVs

Brazilian contractor Belov Engenharia has ordered four Saab Seaeye Leopard work vehicles for Petrobras operations in Brazil.

The Leopards join Belov’s Saab Seaeye fleet of ROVs, set for deployment from three dive support vessels (DSVs).

Belov will utilise them for cleaning and inspecting risers on floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs), amongst other tasks.

“The Leopard was chosen for its compact size to power ratio,” says Belov’s director of operations, André Weber Carneiro.

No other electric robotic vehicle is comparable to the 3000-metre rated electric Leopard, Saab Seaeye says.

Half the size of an equivalent hydraulic work vehicle, Leopard ROV is more agile and responsive, has greater workability and can handle stronger currents.

The electric ROV brings considerable savings in footprint, staffing, mobilisation and maintenance cost.

A key benefit in operation of the Leopard, is its iCON intelligent control architecture.

Specifically, this brings greater control and also offers more information about the vehicle’s operation and enhances fault diagnostics along with greater redundancy.

iCON is also future-friendly for evolving technologies including autonomous operations, Saab Seaeye added.

Furthermore, subsea tech firm Rovco has also recently purchased this electric remotely operated vehicle, expanding its subsea capability and capacity.

The system is for the purpose of carrying out ops on offshore wind projects throughout the summer.