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Success Stories
EIC Survive 2024 EIC Survive&&Thrive Thrive 2024
JulyJuly 2024 2024
Story type #innovation (main category) #collaboration, #culture, #technology
Oceaneering
Benefits
Solving the unsolvable
▸ Freedom™, new product launched, is now under complementary advancements. Other key products and solutions are also being refined to deliver tailored programmes. ▸ Oceaneering strategy is successful, and the company is experiencing revenue growth.
Greg Boyle Senior Director Business Development
How is Oceaneering thriving? In its 60th anniversary year, Oceaneering has continued to demonstrate its commitment to developing technically creative solutions for the some of the most complex challenges underwater, on land and in space. In each of these areas, the company continues to push industry boundaries, most recently demonstrated by its launch of the Freedom™ AUV – the world’s first fully autonomous subsea vehicle with docking and efficient data transfer capabilities that can operate in the world’s harshest environments. The challenge - At its core, Oceaneering provides engineered services and products to the offshore energy industry, with its applied technology expertise also serving the defence, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. Throughout its history, Oceaneering has continually focused on spearheading the development of innovative technologies that meet distinct industry challenges. From reducing requirements for vessels to enhancing data gathering and analysis, to enabling increasingly informed and proactive decision making, it is an area in which the company continues to see success. In recent times, much of that focus has cantered around automation. Critically, Oceaneering’s customers have been seeking ways to minimise their reliance on vessels, thus cutting their costs and reducing their environmental impact. Oceaneering has sought to champion change through the development of solutions that can make a real difference to its customers’ operations. Of course, this is no easy feat, and innovation takes time. However, with its technological background and position as a global provider of engineering solutions, the company continues to break new ground. The solution - Regarding its work in the energy sector, Oceaneering has most recently been collaborating with operators TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Equinor to build an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of transforming subsea operations with intelligent data gathering. Named Freedom™, it is the most advanced resident-capable underwater robotic solution
available on the market today, offering data resolution and coverage completeness in a single pass that are typically only achievable with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), but with the speed and mission efficiency of a traditional AUV. With enhanced speed and ability to quickly identify subsea anomalies, Freedom™ is highly effective for performing pipeline, flowline, and umbilical inspections in a single pass. Traditionally, vessel-based inspections require a number of personnel on board, with only one managing the ROV. With Freedom™, the need for extensive manpower is significantly reduced, yet key data collection remains highly efficient. After more than three years of rigorous testing and substantial investment, Freedom™ was commercialised, completing its first job in November 2023. More recently, in April 2024, it has also completed a demonstration for the U.S. Navy and Defense Innovation Unit. With several successful milestones secured, the company is now focusing on future potential for Freedom™, exploring complementary advancements in areas such as battery technologies and new survey tools. However, Freedom™ isn’t Oceaneering’s only area of focus at present. Indeed, the company is also engaged in the refinement of several other key solutions and products, such as its Integrated, Customizable Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMRGE™) Solutions. With IMRGE™, the company once again combines industry leading technologies and global expertise to deliver tailored programmes that meet diverse project requirements. With safety and asset availability as drivers, IMRGE™ extends asset life by collecting and presenting data more efficiently, equipping clients with insight that enable more informed decision-making. With its pioneering industry solutions, Oceaneering continues to lead global transformation in the offshore energy sector. Having achieved revenues of US$1.8b in 2020, this surged to US$2.4b in 2023, underscoring the relevance and success of the organisation’s evolving solutions base. With a rich reservoir of proprietary technologies, the six-decade-old enterprise is primed to steer industry advancement for many more years to come.
Key findings For industry ▸ There will be challenges, don’t see them as insurmountable, they are simply obstacles to overcome. ▸ Collaboration is key: there are a lot of things we can’t solve as individuals, but we can solve them collectively.
Oceaneering at a glance: Key products and services: engineered services and products primarily to the offshore energy industry Headquarters: Houston, US Year established: 1964 Number of employees: +12,000 Revenue: £786m (US operations) Revenue from international (non-U.S.) operations: 58%