Fugro has delivered the first fully remote inspection of an oil and gas platform in UK waters, 250 km east of Scotland, using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and Fugro’s state-of-the art remote operations centre (ROC) in Aberdeen.

In a first for the UK sector, the platform’s entire jacket structure was inspected remotely, demonstrating Fugro’s proficiency in remote operations capabilities.

Fugro originally intended to trial the remote inspection provision during the campaign. However, when only one offshore inspection engineer was able to mobilise to the platform due to Covid-19, inspection engineers based at Fugro’s ROC in Aberdeen stepped in and delivered the whole project remotely to stay on schedule. The ROV was mobilised with dedicated remote systems for visual inspection, cathodic protection (CP) and flooded member detection (FMD), and all systems were base-checked to confirm communications links with the ROC. Fugro also transacted a COABIS database across the onshore and offshore locations; this allowed the client and ROC personnel to access data acquired by the ROV in near real time.

Karl Daly, Fugro’s Director for IRM services in Europe, said: “This innovative approach allowed for efficient scope delivery and demonstrates to all our clients the opportunities for maximising operational windows whilst reducing offshore HSSE exposure, which is always important but even more so during the current pandemic.”