In response to client demand, Rovco grows fleet with new survey vessel 

UK-based Rovco has added a second hull-mounted survey vessel to its fleet, a move said to come in response to client demand for geophysical and geotechnical survey solutions.

Rovco has entered into a four-year charter agreement with Glomar for the DP2 vessel Glomar Worker.

“We are delighted with our Site Characterisation business unit’s year one performance. By bringing the Glomar Worker into the fleet, we’re now able to provide our clients with increased surety in availability, force multiplication to complete projects more quickly and, importantly, offer a consistency in data collection and reporting,” said Craig Davis, Director of Site Characterisation at Rovco.

The company is currently converting the sister vessel to the already contracted Glomar Supporter, which it has under a long-term charter. Once these upgrades are finished, the vessel will be deployed as a specialized geophysical survey asset, for use in the offshore wind market.

According to Rovco, the newest survey vessel will have a hull-mounted gondola, a high sensor package, and extra stern and starboard A-Frames to facilitate the use of specialized towed survey equipment and multi-sensor towing.

Both Worker and its sister vessel, Supporter, will enable comprehensive site data collection, ensuring smooth integration across datasets for temporal comparisons.

The utilization of Starlink and VSAT communication systems will enable ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore connectivity, allowing real-time streaming for immediate decision-making and the potential transfer of certain responsibilities to onshore operations, Rovco said.

The Worker will also have an autonomous surface vessel, which will act as a force multiplier. Additionally, the DP2 station-keeping ability is set to enable wider working windows across survey and ROV inspections by providing a stable platform for launch and recovery in marginal weather.

Both vessels are equipped with permanently mobilized WROVs, allowing for the completion of survey and inspection tasks on-site without the necessity of returning to port or requiring additional vessels in the field.

Marc Coull, Director of Operations and Maintenance said: “Our objective is to facilitate the offshore wind sector through the development and deployment of automated offshore wind services that aid the engineering, design construction, maintenance and performance of offshore wind farms.”

To sum up everything, Brian Allen, CEO, said: “We love this business, and we’re going to make our mark by bringing in great new technology to improve survey data quality and make offshore wind site characterisation way more cost effective.”

Speaking about Rovco, the company recently completed all survey work on behalf of Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn for the planned Cenos 1.4 GW floating offshore wind farm in Scotland.