Connect with us
* Required fields
Trinidad & Tobago
Sulmara was commissioned to complete a survey of the client’s 3” 450m long pipeline, including a 50m corridor on each side, which runs from an onshore terminal facility out into Guayaguayare Bay, in Trinidad & Tobago with a quick turnaround.
The challenging conditions of the location meant that a beach deployment was the only option, and this combined with the problems of the surf meant that surveying with a traditional fixed hull vessel was not an option.
Sulmara proposed the WAM-V 16 Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) as an ideal solution to work in the shallow waters due to its wave adaptable pontoon hulls and the option to deploy from a beach. The USV is a system that can be air-freighted to a location, so Sulmara was able to react quickly to our client’s tight timescales.
The suspension technology connecting the payload bay to the pontoons allows the system to articulate and keep the retractable sensor mount (RSM) and payload stable. Along with a GPS positioning system we integrated the following three required payload sensors to the USV:
One spare is never enough. When the motors of the USV started to register water ingress, Sulmara responded immediately, shipping a replacement motor overnight and Sulmara personnel escorted it to site rapidly with almost no loss of time to the client.
Launch and recovery procedures have been updated internally and shared with our internal teams. Our in-field learnings form the backbone of how we improve our service and remain experts in multiple USV technology.
Our commitment to delivering for our customers is baked into our procedures and we improve each and every time we deploy.
The high–resolution data was delivered for the client which allowed them to accurately assess areas of exposure of their pipeline. The WAM-V 16 is designed for inland and nearshore coastal hydrographic survey operations and can be launched from the beach. This eliminated the need for a full traditional offshore team and vessel, removing risk to personnel with operations completed with a much smaller carbon footprint.
