UTEC Extends Surveying Capabilities With New Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Launch And Recovery System

UTEC, a global surveying company in subsea services group Acteon, recently successfully commissioned its new launch and recovery system (LARS) for the fleet of seven autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) it uses for seabed surveys in the oil and renewables industries.

UTEC’s new LARS is a floating garage that enables an AUV to be launched and recovered without needing a small boat, thereby simplifying operations and improving safety. It also increases efficiency and reduces costs by enabling AUV surveys in parallel with construction or laying activities, as the LARS can be deployed from the same work vessel.

The LARS will see its first use on a pipeline inspection offshore West Africa later this month.

The system’s design uses flanged and bolted steel and aluminium tubulars for quick assembly and disassembly to ease transportation and storage. It can also be used for subsea launches. Global navigation satellite and ultra-short-baseline positioning systems can be mounted on the LARS to seed the AUV’s inertial navigation system positioning.

Paul Smith, UTEC group managing director, said, “UTEC’s low-logistics AUVs can be easily launched and recovered from a beach, harbour or survey vessel. The new LARS also makes it easier to operate our AUVs from large vessels, thereby extending their reach and providing flexibility for our clients.”

About UTEC
UTEC, an Acteon company, is one of the world’s largest independent offshore and onshore survey companies providing a wide range of services, including offshore positioning, construction support, geophysical (conventional, towed and autonomous underwater vehicle) surveys, measurement technology (dimensional control, including laser scanning and modelling), metocean surveys and geotechnical (consultancy and sampling) services. Headquartered in Aberdeen, UK, UTEC has offices in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the USA, and employs more than 350 staff.

For more information, visit www.utecsurvey.com

About Acteon
Acteon provides a range of global subsea services from surveying, installation and asset integrity management through to decommissioning. Acteon’s companies are 2H Offshore, Aquatic, Claxton, Clarus Subsea Integrity, Conductor Installation Services (CIS), Core Grouting Services, InterAct, InterMoor, J2 Subsea, LDD, LM Handling, MENCK, Probe Oil Tools, Pulse Structural Monitoring, Seatronics, Subsea Riser Products (SRP), TEAM Energy Resources and UTEC. Acteon’s companies share knowledge and experience to add value and create effective, tailored solutions for clients across four business segments: surveying, monitoring and data; risers and moorings; seabed foundation technologies; and project support services.

For more information, visit acteon.com