DOF Subsea increases its Sonardyne navigation tech fleet
International subsea services provider DOF Subsea has equipped a further three of its Brazilian offshore vessel fleet with hybrid acoustic and inertial navigation technology from Sonardyne Brasil Ltda.
Courtesy Sonardyne
Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav all-in-one subsea navigation instruments are now supporting five Forum Energy Technologies (FET) remotely operated vehicles (ROV) on board the three vessels. This latest order takes the total number of DOF Subsea’s Brazilian vessels equipped with SPRINT-Nav aided ROVs to six.
SPRINT-Nav combines Sonardyne’s SPRINT sensor, Syrinx 600 kHz DVL (Doppler velocity log) and a high accuracy intelligent pressure sensor in a single housing, making it one of the smallest combined acoustic-inertial navigation instruments on the market. The system is fast becoming the instrument of choice for underwater vehicles, both meeting stringent specifications for subsea inertial navigation and providing industry-leading high-performance positioning - all from a single tightly integrated instrument.
DOF Subsea’s growing fleet of SPRINT-Nav systems will be used to support the company’s ROV operations, as part of construction, inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) work in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt oil fields, in depths down to 3,000 m.
Fábio Nóbrega, Survey Manager at DOF, says, “Having adopted SPRINT-Navs for three of our vessels earlier this year, we’re seeing clear benefits. Not only do we now have high -performance hybrid acoustic aided INS positioning for our underwater vehicles, we also benefit from Sonardyne Brasil Ltda.’s support here in Brazil, from training to support during installation and commissioning, all by local specialised field engineers. Choosing these instruments for our vehicles, underpinned by the support we receive, helps us to provide the excellence our customers require for their deepwater operations here, offshore Brazil.”
Speaking about the contract, Andre Moura, Sales & Applications Manager for Sonardyne in Brazil said: “It is a great pleasure for us, now being present on six of DOF Subsea’s ROV support vessels in Brazil. This latest batch, which are already installed, is a testament to the relationship we have with our customers here in Brazil, where consistency of local support and collaboration is central to our working ethos.”
This year, Sonardyne is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Brazil, having first set up an office in the country in 1999. Within the last year alone, the company has now supplied nine Brazil based vessels with its acoustic positioning and navigation technologies, from high performance Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) systems to its latest hybrid navigation technology.