Gavia AUV for Saudi Aramco
Teledyne Gavia of Iceland has completed delivery of a purpose-designed Gavia AUV to Saudi Aramco in Dhahran.
It will be used mainly for debris survey and pipeline inspection operations in the Arabian Gulf with potentially wider options for other types of surveys within Red Sea regions in depths down to 1,000m.
Extending Saudi Aramco’s in-house survey capability, the system is equipped with a Klein interferometric sidescan sonar in addition to camera, doppler velocity log and inertial navigation facilities. Other equipment for pipeline inspection applications includes SeeByte Autotracker software while a small survey launch housing all required peripheral components supported by a mobile launch for recovery solutions is also available.
Field configurable with operators able to change or add sensors, navigation or battery modules between missions, the Gavia system is designed to operate from vessels of opportunity and is claimed to have the greatest depth rating of any comparable vehicle in its class. Designed to provide turnkey survey solutions for military, commercial and scientific applications, modular versions are reportedly in widespread use for oil and gas surveys since their introduction in 2007, says Teledyne Gavia. The innovative award-winning Icelandic company in Kopavogur was acquired by Teledyne of the US in 2010.
By David Goodfellow
