Lukoil’s Black Sea ‘treasure hunt’ complete. Trident drilling on the horizon

James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) has completed a deep-towed subsea survey project for Russian oil and gas company Lukoil offshore Romania in the Black Sea.

JMFS said that the goal of the subsea survey was to see if the waters within a part of Lukoil’s Trident block held artifacts from the Venetian golden era.

The deep-towed subsea survey covered an 8 x 6.13-kilometer grid over three planned exploration wells in the Ex30 Trident Block.

Being the site of a recent discovery of 60 shipwrecks that brought artifacts dating back to the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods to the surface for the first time in centuries, the Black Sea is a region of significant scientific interest.

JFMS, a part of James Fisher and Sons, delivered the survey in order to comply with new Romanian environmental law dictating that the Russian oil and gas company must perform an archaeological clearance survey.

This looks to identify any potential archaeological targets, and where none remain, sanctions the area as being clear of any archaeological interest.

JFMS procured the multi-purpose support vessel Ievoli Cobalt, mobilized with a towed side-scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler solution, together with a work-class remotely operated vehicle, and Triton XLX WROV.

The post-analysis of data revealed no targets of potential archaeological interest, meaning the Romanian authorities are now free to issue an Archaeological Discharge Certificate and Lukoil may now proceed with drilling and construction operations in the field later this year.

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