VideoRay ROV Spends 19 Months Under the North Sea, Still Works
Photo: VideoRay.
A Pro 4 remotely operated vehicle from VideoRay has clocked in 19 months of continuous operation in the North Sea off of Norway, which the company says is believed to be the longest uninterrupted deployment of an ROV.
The company Stinger Technology AS, which provides services for the offshore oil and gas industry, deployed the Pro 4 off the coast of Stavanger in November 2013 to test its limits and study the implications of long-term underwater use. The vehicle stayed there until Stinger brought it up on May 20, 2015, during which time it received no repairs or even routine maintenance, although it was kept mostly in a crate and only operated when needed.
“Originally, we anticipated it would last about 3 months,” Stinger CEO Bjarte Langeland says in a VideoRay press release. “But the Pro 4’s endurance has obviously significantly outlasted any of our expectations.”
Pro 4s are typically operated with the company’s Integrated Control Box, but this one was operated remotely over a Wi-Fi- connection from Stinger offices, located 820 feet inland.
“Eliminating the need for the operator to be physically near the surface unit for our ROVs has been a long term goal at VideoRay" says Scott Bentley, VideoRay's founder and CEO. “Stinger's innovation here is extremely impressive, and we are proud to partner with them on this project.”
Stinger examined the vehicle once it was brought to the surface and found some surface growth, minor corrosion and salt accumulation on some of the hardware, but the system was still in working condition after nearly 14,000 hours under the North Sea.
