Sonomatic and Geo Oceans
31/10/2023
Sonomatic and sister company Geo Oceans have collaborated closely with a key global oil & gas operator for several years to develop a new entirely remote approach for performing ballast tank, cargo oil tank and hull envelope inspections. They have called it i-COT.
The companies have been working closely on several robotics tools that, over time, will enable fully remote robotic inspection of ballast and cargo oil tanks and underwater inspection in lieu of dry-docking (UWILD) on floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels without the need to perform confined-space entries or diving activities.
A very successful pilot project has recently been completed with a valued client in the USA using this technology to inspect and scan cargo oil tanks remotely, and the results have exceeded all expectations.
The technology has been designed, engineered and built by Sonomatic and Geo Oceans and draws on decades of experience with floating production storage and offloading hull tank and classification society inspections, subsea advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) sensors, subsea robotics, confined-space entries and mini remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technologies.
The i-COT technology incorporates a fully integrated and customised multiplexed ultrasonic scanning tool within the remotely operated underwater vehicle itself, combined with cutting-edge navigation, sensors and tools that can operate within the cargo hold tanks and hulls on floating production storage and offloading vessels and other offshore floating structures. Collecting over
19 million data points per tank and aligning them to a digital twin, the technology generates vast amounts of high-precision data to support integrity management decisions and represents a step change in the inspection of floating production storage and offloading hulls and tanks that will assist in making a safer industry.
The i-COT technology has been successfully demonstrated to the satisfaction of the attending classification society and has been included within the recently updated regulatory information technology system (RITS) certification portfolio.
