Sonardyne, XOCEAN deliver Ormen Lange data

Sonardyne and XOCEAN have completed a live seabed-to-shore data harvesting mission for Norske Shell using an unmanned surface vessel (USV).

The survey is part of a seabed monitoring campaign at the Ormen Lange field offshore Norway.

The teams completed the project without a single person having to travel offshore or from their home office

It was also achieved with less emissions, health and safety risk and cost compared to a manned vessel.

As a result of using an XOCEAN XO-450 USV to collect data from an array of Sonardyne’s long-endurance Fetch pressure monitoring transponders, about 5.4 tonnes of CO2 per day did not go into the atmosphere.

XOCEAN’s USVs have around one thousandth of the emissions of a conventional vessel.

The three-day project, which saw the USV transit a total of 300 kilometres from Kristiansund out to the Ormen Lange field and back, is also one of the largest data harvesting missions, using a USV, to date.

In addition, it proved the ability to support this type of operation remotely without anyone involved having to travel, safely meeting current Covid-19 movement restrictions.

Local marine operations service provider SafePath launched the vessel in Norway.

All other team members remained working from their home offices.

Sonardyne deployed Fetch PMTs in 800 – 1,100 metres water depth at the Ormen Lange field last September.

The Fetch PMTs collect pressure, temperature and inclination data at the seafloor, at pre-programmed intervals.

Using this data, any vertical displacement of the seabed can be calculated.

The data will help Norske Shell to proactively inform its reservoir management strategy.