DOF Subsea Brings New Deepwater Saab Seaeye ROV To Brazil

New Wave Media

Knowing that new deepwater contracts in Brazil will be forthcoming in 2010, DOF Subsea invests in the new Cougar XTi ROV from Saab Seaeye to boost its already highly competitive profile.

DOF Subsea, has taken delivery of an advanced design of deep-swimming ROV from Saab Seaeye, destined for Brazil. The new 3000 metre-rated Cougar XTi ROV features technological developments that open up a greater range of deep water applications.

It will be permanently commissioned aboard a specially built DOF Subsea vessel, along with two hydraulic work-class vehicles. The vessel has been constructed in Norway and will operate offshore in Brazil for Light Well Intervention.

The onboard Launch and Recovery System (LARS) has been built by ODIM, and includes Active Heave Compensation. Shrinking the size of LARS has been made possible by reducing the diameter of the umbilical from a typical 32mm down to 20mm through new ROV power technology.

A thinner umbilical also offers less drag and the 800Hz high frequency power system cuts the size of the ROV's on board transformer by incredible 80%, thereby greatly improving the vehicle's power to weight ratio.

A fault tolerant system that isolates any failed component and allows the ROV to keep working at its designated task is also included. Pilots get fault diagnostics through a simplified man/machine interface that interprets the fault data for them before clearly displaying the problem and the remedial action to be taken.
Clever system integration makes the ROV more software driven than hardware dependent and therefore easier to reconfigure for different operational roles, allowing for different task-specific tooling skids to be readily added and changed as needed, along with custom designed options for specific operational needs.

Such tooling can include manipulator packages, anvil and disc cutters, water-jetting equipment, torque tools, survey packages with camera booms, drill support and IRM tooling.

The Cougar XTi also has a new autopilot system that gives the pilot more precise positioning of the vehicle by automatically holding depth and heading in much tighter parameters than ever before. It is an upgrade of the long proven Cougar concept, with breakthrough technology introduced from Saab Seaeye's flagship Jaguar electric work-ROV.

The Cougar XTi will add to DOF Subsea's extensive capability in providing construction and engineering, IRM, ROV and survey support services in Brazil´s thriving deepwater plays, where DOF already has important contracts, including a specialized DOF ship and ROV´s at the huge deepwater pre-salt Tupi field.

 

Claudio Paschoa

Photo courtesy of Saab Technologies