Bibby Hydromap's DriX Completes Trials

Shailaja A. Lakshmi
Sunday, September 2, 2018

UK-based survey specialist Bibby HydroMap have announced the successful completion of testing of ‘DriX’, the 8-metre Autonomous Unmanned Survey Vessel (AUSV) developed by iXblue.

Designed to provide a true extension of survey capability from shallow and inshore waters to a full offshore environment, DriX is a new breed of AUSV that is the first autonomous survey platform to truly rival the performance of a traditional survey vessel.

The versatile system has the ability to accommodate a hydrographic and geophysical survey payload and to aid positioning of underwater vehicles, facilitating data collection on a variety of marine projects.

Guillaume Edeline, Business Development Manager at iXblue said: "DriX continues to build its successful track record across the hydrographic and offshore energy markets. Thanks to Bibby HydroMap's commitment to finding new ways to work faster and better, and to the company’s sharp knowledge of offshore renewables, we were able to jointly demonstrate the relevancy of our AUSV in maximizing efficiency in an offshore wind farm environment."

Guillaume added: "This really was a milestone for DriX, proving once again its versatility, the accuracy of its data gathering and its stability in a range of sea states. We are excited by the results and the promising prospects for DriX and Bibby HydroMap."

The key purpose of the trials, covering a 5-day period, was to rigorously test the performance and survey capabilities of DriX in an ever-demanding marine environment. Testing took place in and around the Gwynt Y Môr offshore wind farm, operated by Innogy Renewables UK Ltd.

The 576MW offshore wind farm is in a tidally-challenging area off the North Wales coast and is the fourth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world.

Specific locations of interest were identified within the wind farm environment to provide a direct comparison with conventional survey methodologies. Fitted with a Teledyne RESON Seabat IDH T50 multibeam echosounder, the system was able to acquire unprecedentedly clean bathymetry at speeds greater than 8 knots, remaining on the intended survey line in cross-tides in excess of 1.5 knots.

With a unique hydrodynamic gondola housing the payload DriX, has been designed to dramatically reduce the amount of aeration around the multibeam echosounder. During the trials, a significant improvement was realized when compared to the conventional deployment methods seen with the majority of vessel mounted multibeam echosounder systems.

Categories: Offshore Surveyors Offshore Energy Unmanned Vehicles Ocean Observation

Related Stories

Floating Wind and the Taming of Subsea Spaghetti

Eni Strengthens LNG Ties with Japan

MCDermott Gets Pipelines and Cables Job at Qatar's Giant Gas Field

TotalEnergies Signs LNG Supply Deal with South Korea’s HD Hyundai Chemical

North Sea Realism in a Busy Market

Izomax Wins a Milestone Contract with Shell

The Mounting Offshore Oil & Gas Decommissioning Cost

A Hydrogen Balancing Act in Offshore Energy

SLB, Palo Alto Networks Expand Cyber Connection

Shipbuilding: Wind Turbine Installation Vessel Delivered to Cadeler

Current News

Sapura Scoops Petrobras Contract for Pan-Malaysia Offshore Services

Velesto’s Drilling Rigs Up for Automatization Overhaul Under New Tech Alliance

US Firm Finds Chinese Partner to Deliver Mobile Offshore Drilling Units

TotalEnergies and Oil India to Jointly Tackle Methane Emissions Issues

Keppel Reclaiming Control of 13 Rigs to Cash In on Offshore Drilling Market's Growth

Global Offshore Wind Stumbles to the End of '24

Seatrium Delivers Fifth Jack-Up to Borr Drilling

Malaysia's FPSO Firm Bumi Armada Eyes Merger with MISC’s Offshore Unit

Global OTEC Presents OTEC Power Module for Remote Offshore Platforms

Beam’s AI-Driven AUV to Hit Offshore Wind Market in 2025

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com