Subsea company secures major international contract

A Darlington-based company which specialises in the application of hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (HAUV) has secured a major contract with Equinor Energy AS.

Modus Subsea Services has achieved a contract with Equinor for the provision of underwater intervention drone missions at its Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

The contract with the Norwegian energy company was secured after a comprehensive tendering process, and will run from 2023 to mid-2024.

As part of the partnership, one of Modus' Saab Sabertooth HAUVs will be in residency in field for a significant period.

The offshore operations will involve in-field autonomous surveys and light interventions with over the horizon control from Modus' Command and Control Centre at its head office in Darlington.

Modus has been working on subsea residency with its fleet of HAUVs for some time and has accelerated its development in this area following a successful trial scope with Equinor in November 2021.

Ash Sheppard, Modus chief strategy officer, said: "This is a significant and exciting contract award for Modus and I am proud of what was a real team-effort throughout this process. In recent months we have been transforming our business to focus exclusively on the next generation of subsea survey and IMR solutions and this project has been a key strategic target for us.

"Equinor is leading the way on tech solutions as part of its commitment to a low-carbon future and this contract has the potential to drive a paradigm shift in the industry."

Nick Tompkins, Modus chief executive, added: "This project will further demonstrate the major benefits of resident UIDs and we are excited to work with Equinor to provide a sustainable route to vastly improved operational regularity, consistent ultra-high quality data, significantly reduced OPEX spend and increased safety."

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE