Scottish subsea services specialist Sulmara has made a significant investment of $1.6 million in equipment with the aim of improving its performance and reducing the environmental impact of its offshore operations.
The Glasgow-based company has placed an order with Ocean Power Technologies, Inc.. to acquire several of its Wave Adaptable Modular Vessels (WAM-V), a double-hulled unmanned surface vessel (USV) specialized in near-shore data collection. New Jersey-based OPT noted that this is the largest single order it has received to date.
Andy Doggett, Sulmara’s chief technology officer, noted that this investment is indicative of the company’s future initiatives and stated the following:
“Sulmara has built an extensive track record of executing projects with USV systems in Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S., where we have demonstrated the ability of unmanned systems to produce quality data in the most hostile environments with minimal cost to the environment.”
“Because it has unique characteristics, including being lightweight and modular, possessing a very small draft and wave-adaptive stability, as well as being all-electric, WAM-V systems can conduct operations in areas where other vessels struggle and with a huge reduction in carbon footprint.”
“We have worked closely with OPT’s design and engineering team to adapt the WAM-V design to include additional features such as subsea sensor towing to expand the capability of the system to meet the needs of our customers from both a data delivery and carbon standpoint. cost perspective”.
The success of USVs in offshore operations
After experiencing success with several projects involving the use of the WAM-V 16 throughout this year, Sulmara plans to continue using this system in various subsea applications. Such applications span areas such as environmental monitoring, remote inspections, site characterization and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection in the energy, civil and utility sectors, including global offshore wind development.
It is also important to note that the company, established in 2019, has experienced rapid growth and has become an international service provider with a presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Its focus is on collaborating with partners such as OPT to adapt and develop technologies and methodologies that contribute to reducing the environmental impact and costs associated with the provision of services for the sustainable marine energy generation.
For his part, OPT CEO Philipp Stratmann, whose company is a leader in innovative and cost-effective low-carbon marine energy, data and services solutions, said: “We are excited to expand our relationship with Sulmara. Their innovative approach to sustainable offshore operations fits perfectly with our WAM-V autonomous vehicles. This represents the first of many additions to our fleet, consisting of vehicles and buoys, to enable our customers to offer a sustainable energy future.”.
Sulmara’s chief operating officer, Carlo Pinto, added: “We are very pleased with the results.Our investment in a fleet of customized USV WAM-Vs marks another critical step in our ongoing mission to decarbonize the offshore industry. The collaboration with OPT is proof of their unwavering support and alignment with our environmental and forward-looking objectives. Together, we aim to pave a greener path for the offshore sector.”.
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