Vaarst unveils deepest subsea 3D camera yet

The latest addition to the SubSLAM X2 family, SubSLAM Deeper triples existing capability from 2,000 to 6,000 metres, delivering spatial reconstructions for a range of industries which need to understand challenging subsea environments.

“As the subsea industry moves to using 3D data more often as a standard deliverable, we were continually asked to support projects beyond the 2,000m rating of our existing SubSLAM systems,” explained Joe Tidball, Vaarst business unit director.

While immediately serving the energy industry, SubSLAM Deeper has application in other sectors, including marine salvage and ecology.

Developed in the UK the system is fully tested to a depth of 6,700m. It is already successfully operational in the Gulf.

In keeping with other SubSLAM X2 models, 3D reconstructions can be generated simultaneously while performing visual inspections. Reconstructions and inspection data can be live streamed over low bandwidth links (≤200Kbps), enabling real-time assessment and remote manipulation of view and measurements.

Mounted on any ROV, SubSLAM uses a 4K stereo camera pair which means no scale bars are required, speeding up operations through more straightforward task plans and bringing cost and efficiency benefits to users.