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Maritime

Revolutionary New Underwater Robot Makes first UK Appearance at Ocean Business

  • KONGSBERG highlights the disruptive potential of the unique Eelume system
  • Flexible body enables access to hard to reach spaces on underwater infrastructure
Kongsberg Maritime is bringing the innovative and ground-breaking new Eelume underwater robot to Ocean Business 2017. A futuristic looking vehicle with a flexible and adaptable body, Eelume is designed to live permanently underwater and carry out underwater intervention tasks that would normally require the mobilisation of expensive surface vehicles for divers or to launch and retrieve ROVs or AUVs.

Visitors to KONGSBERG's Ocean Business stands (N1 & P2) can see how Eelume's unique design allows it to access confined spaces within subsea structures. Its ability to change its shape and hold postures allows intricate interactions using a diverse toolset including torque tools, grippers and specialised maintenance equipment.

In addition to its superior manoeuvrability, Eelume is a highly stable sensor and actuator platform offering unmatched access to underwater structures for diverse operations. The Eelume solution will dramatically reduce costs and the environmental impact associated with having a ship overhead a traditional ROV operation. It can be installed on both existing and new fields where typical jobs include visual inspection, cleaning, and operating valves and chokes. These tasks account for a large part of the total subsea inspection and intervention spend.

"As this is the first time that a real-life Eelume system has been shown in the UK, we are expecting it to become one of the major technology highlights at Ocean Business," said Richard Mills, Sales Director, MaRo, Kongsberg Maritime. "Eelume is a unique system and we are looking forward to giving visitors a real insight into how the technology has the potential to disrupt the status quo by taking a completely new approach to underwater inspection and intervention."

The Eelume solution is a result of an agreement signed by Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil with Eelume, a NTNU spin-off company, to accelerate new technology that will significantly reduce costs related to subsea inspection, maintenance and repair operations. The strength of this collaboration lies in the unique contributions from each of the parties. Eelume is founded by top academics from NTNU; Kongsberg Maritime brings in 25 years of experience and technology development within marine robotics; and Statoil provides access to real installations for testing and qualification.