IKM close to deploying resident ROV

IKM Subsea has started mobilization to the field of a permanently seabed installed remote operated vehicle (ROV), or residential ROV (RROV).

The firm announced the award of a major ROV services contract for the fields Visund and Snorre B in the North Sea last August, which included the testing and installation of an electrical RROV.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reached a stage where the first equipment for Snorre B and Visund is now complete and mobilization to the field has started," says comments Jan Vegard Hestnes, Operations Director at IKM Subsea. "The complete package will be in place by Q2 2017. The system has been thoroughly tested in a newly installed test tank located at Bryne in Norway. The Onshore Control Center is also in construction at Bryne and the whole system is prepared to be completed by Q2 2017.”

The system will interface with IKMS’s Onshore Control Center via Tampnet, a dedicated fiber-based network system for the platforms in question. The systems are also designed to operate on the 4G mobile broadband network in the North Sea.

IKM's Merlin UCV (ultra compact vehicle) work class ROV are being used, along with new technology to supply the residential capacity and communication links needed to support the project.  

The RROV is capable of continuous subsea operations as required, while IKM, Statoil and third party suppliers maintain continuous, uninterrupted control from its Onshore Control Center at Bryne.

"The RROV concept developed for Snorre B, represents the future ROV technology resulting in safer operations, expected cost reductions for oil companies and the industry overall," says Hestnes.

Read more

ROV in residence 

Image from IKM Subsea

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