Kraken joins mooring chain inspection project

Kraken Robotics has come on board the LifeMoor project, an industry collaboration initiative that aims to extend the lifetime of subsea mooring chains.

The four-year project known as ‘knowledge building project for industry’ started in 2018 with SINTEF, Norway’s research institution, as a leading partner. The Research Council of Norway supported the project as well.

LifeMoor project brings together a consortium of industry partners which includes NTNU, Equinor, MacGregor, Aker BP, Nosted, and Kraken Robotics.

Collaborating with the offshore energy industry and government, Kraken is working on SeaVision Mooring Chain Inspection Tool (MCIT) based on its SeaVision sensor, the company reports.

SeaVision produces ultra-high resolution underwater 3D laser-imaging scans and has been used in several mooring campaigns in Canada and Brazil.

The company is also developing the data analytics software to process SeaVision data into corrosion and dimensional measurements requirements for mooring integrity analysis.

As a result of joining the LifeMoor project, Kraken has secured a project agreement with an East Coast offshore energy operator to validate SeaVision MCIT on a mooring chain provided by the offshore energy operator and to integrate it with LifeMoor analytics software.

The company expects validation and certification of the results by Q3 2021.

According to Market Study Report, the largest segment of the offshore mooring market is offshore oil & gas FPSOs, accounting for over 2,000 km of mooring chains.

There are a diverse number of factors that contribute to mooring chain failures. Industry best practices and available technology have limitations in estimating the remaining life.

According to Kraken, the outcome of the LifeMoor project will allow for better service life estimates on mooring chains, delivering a significant benefit to offshore energy operators.