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Industry · Offshore EnergyThe vessel you didn't mobilise is the saving.
Oil, gas and offshore wind all run on continuous subsea asset integrity - and almost every traditional inspection method carries a support vessel or a rope-access team with it. Removing that mobilisation is where the money and the HSE exposure both sit.
Integrity is continuous. Inspection campaigns are not.
Structures degrade steadily while inspection happens in expensive bursts. Every method that needs a specialist vessel or a confined-space entry pushes the interval out and the risk up.
The support vessel costs more than the inspection
A specialist offshore vessel hire dominates the cost of a routine survey. If the inspection can be done from an existing platform or vessel of opportunity, the economics of frequency change completely.
Ballast tanks and voids are the worst place to send people
Rope access, scaffolding, dewatering and permits are the real cost of a tank survey - and the real risk. This is the single clearest case for a robot.
Wind is scaling faster than inspection capacity
Monopiles, cables and scour all need periodic survey to maintain performance and meet certification. Volume is growing faster than the specialist contractor market can serve it.
Four jobs across oil, gas and wind
Deliberately covering both sides of offshore energy - the inspection problem is largely the same structure in different water.
Platform & FPSO inspection
Jacket structure, conductor guides, riser assessment and anode consumption monitoring - without a specialist vessel on station.
Ballast tank & confined-space survey
Class-certified tank survey replacing rope-access teams, scaffold towers and dewatering.
Wind foundation & cable survey
Monopile and jacket inspection, transition pieces, bend restrictors, inter-array cable routes, scour monitoring and marine growth assessment.
Pipeline & leak integrity
Route survey, free-span detection, burial assessment, cathodic protection checks - plus topside gas and vacuum leak detection on live plant.
How each job is done, and with what
Where more than one of our brands suits a task, all of them are named.
Platform & FPSO inspection
Jacket structure inspection, conductor guide surveys, riser assessment and anode consumption monitoring. The value is in frequency: routine inspection from the asset itself, rather than a campaign built around a vessel booking.
Ballast tank & confined space
Class-certified ballast tank surveys replacing rope-access teams. Untethered and wireless-comms systems matter here, because tether management inside a large enclosed tank is the thing that actually limits the work.
Offshore wind asset inspection
Monopile installation monitoring, transition piece surveys, inter-array cable inspection, cathodic protection assessment and marine growth evaluation. Direct power supply enables continuous operation, with no battery recharge break in an extended campaign.
Subsea pipeline & cable monitoring
Flowline inspection, free-span detection, burial assessment and cable route survey. Non-contact smart measurement tooling provides millimetre-level accuracy for corrosion and wall-thickness data without touching the asset.
Topside leak detection
Acoustic imaging cameras make compressed air, gas and vacuum leaks visible on screen, then put a leak rate, an annual cost and a CO₂ figure against each one - which is what turns a survey into a funded repair list.
Splash-zone & structural repair
Cold-cure epoxy repair of corroded and eroded steel, pipework and flanges - applied in place, wet or dry, with no hot work permit and no pre-heating. Bonds to GRE pipe as well as steel.
Which platform suits which asset
Offshore is where the differences between our robotics brands matter most - certification, tether strategy and current tolerance are not interchangeable.
If it has to satisfy class
Hydromea EXRAY
Class-certified for visual inspection and NDT data collection, with wireless optical comms for confined flooded spaces. Built for FPSO tanks, hydropower and industrial inspection where a tether is the problem.
Hydromea systems →
If you need current tolerance
QYSEA W6 NAVI
Operates to 350 m with AI-assisted image enhancement in turbid water and station-locking for measurement tasks - aimed at foundation and pipeline survey in real conditions.
QYSEA platforms →
If the area is large
Survey AUVs
For route survey and wide-area coverage where a tethered vehicle is the wrong tool - untethered systems and long-endurance acoustic recorders.
Autonomous systems →Documented deployments of the systems we supply
Reported by the manufacturers and the operators - not our own project work. The figures below are theirs, and we have left them attributed rather than absorbed into our own marketing.
FPSO ballast tank class survey, at half the time
The challenge
A class-certified FPSO ballast tank survey traditionally requiring six rope-access personnel, scaffold towers and four days of offshore operations in confined, hazardous spaces.
The result
Two personnel completed the full class-certified survey in two days. The manufacturer reports approximately 90% cost reduction versus the rope-access method, with no scaffold and no dewatering. Automated data management removed the manual report collation step.
Source: Hydromea deployment documentation. The ~90% figure is the manufacturer's, for this deployment.
Platform inspection without the specialist vessel call
The challenge
Frequent inspection of platform assets on the Kristin and Ivar Aasen fields, where each inspection traditionally required hiring a specialised offshore support vessel.
The result
ROV inspection eliminated specialist vessel mobilisations. Equinor reports saving one million NOK each time a spare vessel hire is avoided - which reframes the equipment as a mobilisation-avoidance tool rather than an inspection cost.
Source: Blueye Robotics deployment documentation, citing Equinor.
What else offshore operators buy from us
Cold-cure repair
Corrosion, erosion and cavitation damage on pipework, tanks, coolers and flanges - repaired in place, often on a live system.
Epoxy Solutions →Leak detection
Acoustic cameras that find compressed air and gas leaks and cost them, on plant that stays running.
Acoustic imaging →Inspection at height
Telescopic pole systems that reach structure without scaffolding, rope access or a confined-space entry permit.
CSpect ALTUM →Coating & fluid handling
Vapour abrasive blasting, spray application, pumps and lubrication for maintenance campaigns.
Graco equipment →What offshore operators usually ask first
How does ROV inspection actually compare on cost?
The published case studies show reductions in the 80–90% range against equivalent dive or rope-access operations - but read them carefully, because those are manufacturer figures for specific deployments, not a general rule. The reliable version is simpler: the saving is almost always the mobilisation you avoided, not the inspection itself. If your inspection does not currently require a support vessel or a permit, expect a much smaller number.
Can this data be submitted for class or regulatory purposes?
Some systems are class-certified for visual inspection and NDT data collection, which is what enables regulatory-grade survey submissions. Not all of them are, and the requirement varies by class society and asset. We will tell you which system meets which certification - confirm the specific requirement with your surveyor before committing to a programme.
ROV or AUV for our work?
An ROV is tethered, and the tether carries power, real-time control and live video - which is what you want when a human has to make decisions during the inspection or intervene. An AUV runs untethered on a pre-programmed mission, which suits large-area survey. Most inspection work here is ROV work; route and wide-area survey is where AUVs earn their place. See autonomous systems.
Can we trial one on a single campaign?
Yes, and offshore is the case where it makes most sense - conditions vary enough that a specification sheet will not tell you whether a platform holds station in your current. Systems are available for short-term hire with worldwide mobilisation. See the rental fleet.
Tell us the asset and the interval
What you need to inspect, how deep, how often, and whether the output has to satisfy class. We will recommend across the brands we carry - and say plainly where a certification requirement rules one of them out.
Thank you - that's with us.
We will come back to you within one working day. If it is urgent, call +45 6916 2400.