Bibby Offshore has invested about £ 11 million (US $17.6 million) in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems for its latest division, Bibby Remote Intervention Ltd. (BRIL), a news release stated.

Initial investment of nearly £ 4 million (US $6.4 million) has been made in ROV systems for Bibby Offshore’s fleet of diving support vessels (DSVs) to bring the service provision in-house, while 46 jobs have been created on and offshore within the division already this year, according to the release. BRIL has installed Sub Atlantic Comanche ROVs on all three of Bibby Offshore’s North Sea fleet of DSVs, including the Bibby Topaz, Bibby Sapphire, and Toisa Polaris. It also supplies BRIL survey and position services onboard the DSVs in conjunction with NCS Survey.

BRIL has awarded Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) a five-year frame contract worth £25million (US $40 million) for SMD to provide a wide range of hydraulic work-class ROVs to BRIL. Under the terms of the agreement, BRIL took delivery of its first new work-class ROV, the 100-horsepower (hp) Atom, from SMD in September and will receive a new 3,000-m (9,843 ft) rated, 150-hp Quasar in November, according to the release. BRIL will then immediately expand its onshore staff by eight and offshore workforce will more than double from 30 to around 65. Further recruitment of staff will continue throughout 2013.

BRIL has invested another £ 1.8 million (US $2.9 million) in two SeaEye Lynx inspection class ROVs, which have been installed on board Bibby Offshore’s NOR Spring DP2 (Dynamic Positioning) ROV support vessel. The vessel is operating in Indonesia providing inspection services for Pertamina. BRIL will provide support services for the Bibby Offshore Limited Asia Pacific division, based in Singapore.

In the coming months, BRIL plans to make additional investments that will consist of ordering a mixed fleet of work-class ROVs including the 100-hp Atom, 150-hp Quasars and heavy duty construction ROV the 250hp Quantum, according to the release.