Overview
A major offshore oil and gas operator required rapid investigation of a reported pipeline anomaly at a targeted offshore location. Traditional offshore inspection workflows often involve extended mobilization timelines, high vessel costs, and delayed reporting, increasing operational exposure while decisions are pending.
Using an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) Terradepth provided a focused inspection addressing specialized requirements for data collection and reporting, rapidly deploying to the areas of interest and delivering investigation results through Absolute Ocean® for immediate access by facilities and operations managers.
Challenge
Conventional offshore pipeline inspections rely on large survey vessels and broad-area survey strategies that require significant planning, contracting, and mobilization time. These approaches are costly and can delay anomaly evaluation by weeks.
The operator needed a faster, more precise method to investigate the reported condition, confirm the presence or absence of an issue, and provide decision-makers with reliable information without extended operational delays.
Solution
Terradepth mobilized a rapid-response survey team to the reported location and executed a targeted pipeline inspection. A full water-column multibeam survey was conducted over the pipeline corridor. Data acquisition was concentrated at the area of interest to maximize technical insight while minimizing unnecessary survey coverage.
Survey operations incorporated an ASV to support efficient data collection under operational constraints. Survey data was delivered directly through Absolute Ocean®, allowing remote stakeholders to review results immediately rather than waiting for traditional post-mission reporting cycles.
3D multibeam water column data along the seafloor
Example of a pipeline survey in Absolute Ocean
Results
Collection-to-delivery time was compressed from weeks to days. Facilities and integrity stakeholders were able to evaluate the investigation findings quickly, reducing uncertainty and enabling timely operational decisions.
The rapid response approach avoided extensive vessel mobilization and associated logistics, resulting in substantial cost savings compared to traditional inspection methods. Updated survey data also provided improved situational awareness in an area where marine conditions and seabed features can change over time. This approach prioritized speed, precision, and decision support, enabling a shift to data-driven workflows.
“Speed was the defining factor on this project. The operator needed answers quickly, and that meant
focusing the survey exactly where it mattered. By pairing targeted data collection with immediate delivery
through Absolute Ocean®, we were able to move from investigation to insight in days instead of weeks.”Steve Giannaris, Sr. Director of Operations, Terradepth
Example of a pipeline survey in Absolute Ocean