C-Innovation selects Sonardyne technology spread for its Brazilian fleet

Integrated marine services company C-Innovation (C-I) has chosen a suite of Sonardyne’s underwater positioning and navigation systems to support its operations offshore Brazil.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) on board six ROV support vessels (RSVs) in the country will be equipped with Sonardyne inertial, gyrocompass, and Doppler technologies, as well as hybrid acoustic-inertial systems.

Specifically, C-I has ordered SPRINT inertial navigation systems (INS), a Lodestar attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), Syrinx Doppler velocity logs (DVLs) and Sonardyne’s hybrid acoustic-inertial underwater vehicle navigation instruments, SPRINT-Nav. C-I has also ordered a quantity of Sonardyne’s Compatt 6+ transponders and Wideband Sub-Mini 6+ (WSM 6+) transponder/responders for tracking structures and vehicles.

Most of the vessels (including Bongo, Santos Service, Joe Griffin and Deborah Kay) will be working for Petrobras, and one vessel (Cabo Frio) will be working for Karoon Energy. The scope of work is subsea inspection, maintenance and repair operations (IMR) and ROV support.

Five of the six vessels, which start contracts in Brazil this year, are already equipped with Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning system, which is used for both dynamic positioning (DP) reference and deep water target tracking.

SPRINT-Nav combines Sonardyne’s SPRINT sensor, Syrinx 600 kHz DVL and a high accuracy intelligent pressure sensor packaged in a compact deep-rated housing that’s simple to integrate on both remote and autonomous underwater platforms. The tight

integration of inertial sensor and raw acoustic aiding data at a low level enables SPRINT-Nav to regularly exceed the most stringent of positioning specifications, making it an ideal choice for vehicle guidance, station keeping and long endurance navigation.

Tomás Peixoto, Survey Manager at C-Innovation, an affiliate of Edison Chouest Offshore and its family of companies, says, “We’re pleased to continue the relationship we have with Sonardyne, building on a long-standing partnership and with the local technical support that they offer here in Brazil. With these latest orders, we’re ensuring our fleet continues to provide unmatched services to our customers.” 

Speaking from Sonardyne’s base of operations in Rio das Ostras, Brazil, Sonardyne Sales & Applications Manager Andre Moura, says, “With the region’s majors committing to new and expanded  field developments, the number, scope and value of engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) contracts placed here in recent months has risen significantly. The versatility and consistent high performance offered by our solutions means that C-Innovation can be confident they will see a return on their equipment investment throughout the life of the projects. That confidence, together with our in-country servicing and support, in turn helps to underpin their ongoing success in the market here.”

Sonardyne International Ltd. is recognised as a world leader in the design and manufacture of underwater acoustic positioning, inertial navigation, wireless communications and sonar technology systems for the offshore oil and gas, ocean scientific and maritime security industries.

www.sonardyne.com