Kraken awarded $7.1 million of contracts for offshore subsea inspections

The applications include inspection of infrastructure in the water column and critical seabed assets including flowlines, spider buoys, and manifolds.

Kraken awarded $7.1 million of contracts for offshore subsea inspections
Photo: Kraken Robotics

Kraken Robotics Inc., Canada’s Ocean Company™, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiaries Kraken Robotic Systems Inc. and PanGeo Subsea Inc. have been awarded $7.1 million for two contracts from the Newfoundland Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Recovery Assistance (OOGIRA) Fund. 

The combined projects valued at $9.2 million will be executed from Q4 2021 through Q4 2022. Kraken and PanGeo’s inspection and survey platforms will assist the offshore energy sector to acquire better, faster, and more valuable data. This will enable offshore energy operators to make better-informed decisions regarding asset integrity, enhance energy recovery and reduce carbon emissions during inspection and survey operations.

Kraken has been awarded $2.3 million in funding as part of a $4.0 million Fast Remote 3D Digital Inspection (FR3DI) Technology Demonstration Project. During the FR3DI project Kraken will demonstrate the inspection of critical subsea infrastructure for Cenovus Energy Inc. and Suncor Energy Inc. using Kraken’s SeaVision® 3D underwater laser scanning technology. The offshore demonstration campaign will consist of several inspection scopes of work to create digital twins of subsea infrastructure as prioritized by Cenovus and Suncor. The applications include inspection of infrastructure in the water column and critical seabed assets including flowlines, spider buoys, and manifolds.

Under the project, Kraken will receive approximately $1.0 million in funding for equipment and salaries and will also contribute approximately $0.4 million in equipment and salaries. The remaining $2.6 million of project funding is comprised of operational expenses, materials and consumables and will be supported by OOGIRA and project partners Cenovus and Suncor. 

This project avails of joint engineering efforts from Kraken and its recently acquired subsidiary, PanGeo Subsea, leveraging an existing PanGeo sled design with Kraken SeaVision® electronics and significant software integration.

Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President and CEO, said:

“Over past few years, the term ‘digital twinning’ has become synonymous with innovation in the offshore energy sector, and vital to corporate strategy as operators seek to take advantage of new and emerging technologies. Sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence and data analytics initiatives are key to enabling real-time information systems. Remote operations in the offshore market provide multiple benefits. These include risk mitigation as more personnel are removed from the offshore environment, significant cost reductions, more flexible and scalable operations, and environmental sustainability as operational carbon footprints can be dramatically reduced.”