Oceaneering International Inc. (NYSE: OII) said Aug. 13 its wholly owned subsidiaries has entered into a contract with Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) for a three-year term with two one-year optional extension periods to provide a resident, battery-powered electric ROV system to support subsea inspection, maintenance and repair activities.

The E-ROV system is expected to be deployed in water depths up to 1000 m (3,280 ft) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Work under the contract is scheduled to commence in early December 2018.

“As the foremost work-class ROV service provider in the world, with extensive experience in ROV technology, we are excited by this award with Equinor to provide this revolutionary, resident ROV system,” Martin J. McDonald, Oceaneering’s senior vice president of ROVs, said.

“The E-ROV system is capable of operating for extended periods of time without being recovered to the surface, which greatly reduces the requirement for a surface vessel onsite.”

The E-ROV system is piloted from one of Oceaneering’s onshore Mission Support Centers, using the company’s proprietary Remote Piloting and Automated Control Technology, or RPACT. The RPACT transfers ROV control data and live, high-definition video with low latency, using a 4G mobile broadband signal transmitted from a buoy on the water's surface. This technology also deploys machine vision learning and augmented reality techniques, and allows for efficiencies and versatility that lead to real-time control of the ROV and its tooling.

Offshore