Rovco Expands Offshore Capabilities with Glomar Supporter Charter

Rovco, a UK-based subsea robotics and survey firm, has signed a three-year charter with Glomar Offshoreof the multipurpose support vessel, Glomar Supporter.

The company said the charter was part of its growth strategy within its site characterizing business unit, and market a significant expansion of the company’s offshore hydrographic, geophysical, and shallow geotechnical survey capabilities.

"Responding to high client demand amid a rapidly growing offshore wind market, Rovco, working in collaboration with Glomar and marine design consultants, Medea, will reconfigure the vessel to permanently carry an entire suite of state-of-the-art survey sensors and equipment, aimed at providing the highest quality data capture, reporting, and technology-enabled solutions for a streamlined and efficient site characterization offering," Rovco said.

Upon completion of dry docking in February 2023, the vessel will be delivered to Rovco complete with a keel-mounted gondola, an array of deck equipment, and dedicated high-end survey and reporting office suites, Rovco said.

The gondola, designed and analysed for performance by Medea, will contain a suite of permanently installed survey sensors including dual head multibeam configurations, with inbuild roll and pitch stabilization for high quality acquisition, Rovco added.

The main deck will be reconfigured to feature a main stern A-Frame for the deployment and towing of multiple sensor types, including seismic equipment, as well as adding secondary deck handling equipment for deployment of cone penetration test (CPT) and Vibrocorers to facilitate efficient sampling of in-situ soil conditions and taking advantage of the stable DP2 platform.

Upon delivery, Rovco will install a host of additional technology to enable force multiplication during survey operations and fast, large data packet transfers to shore for reporting efficiency. 

"The entire package is designed to bring significant schedule efficiencies and cost savings to clients," Rovco said.

"Rovco will mobilize a dedicated survey team onboard the Glomar Supporter to deliver a comprehensive package of site characterisation solutions and specialised offshore survey projects, with a key focus on supporting the rapidly growing pipeline of offshore wind projects from their Aberdeen operational base, across ScotWind, the Southern North, Irish and Celtic Sea developments," Rovco added.

Built in 2009, the Glomar Supporter underwent an extensive rebuild and refurbishment in 2021. The 60m vessel is equipped with DP2 station keeping capabilities, a carrying capacity of around 1395t DWT and a combined deck space of 497 m2.