TRIESTE – FlatFish, the inspection drone developed by Saipem for subsea operations, has passed the functional acceptance tests in Trieste required under the contract awarded in 2023 by Petrobras. The trials were intended to verify autonomy, data quality and operational performance ahead of deployment offshore. The campaign was carried out at Saipem’s subsea drone testing centre in Porto Vecchio, Trieste, in the presence of representatives of the Brazilian company. The tests highlighted the system’s capabilities, marking a key step towards the industrial use of the technology. During the trials, the drone carried out fully autonomous missions, including inspections of structures and pipelines, cathodic protection measurements and wall thickness checks. These are typical offshore operations which, in this case, were performed without direct human intervention.
Following the positive outcome, Petrobras authorised the start of the final phase of the project, which involves deploying FlatFish in real operating conditions in Brazil’s ultra-deep waters. The drone was developed במסגרת the Hydrone programme, through which Saipem aims to industrialise a family of subsea robots capable of operating at depths of up to 3,000 metres. The objective is to enable increasingly autonomous inspections, reducing costs and risks in offshore operations.
Saipem is a global leader in the engineering and construction of major projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors, both offshore and onshore. Saipem is a “One Company” organised into business lines: Asset Based Services, Drilling and Sonsub, Energy Carriers, Offshore Wind, Sustainable Infrastructures. The company has five fabrication yards and an offshore fleet of 17 owned construction vessels and 12 drilling rigs, nine of which are owned. Listed on the Milan stock exchange, it operates in more than 50 countries worldwide and employs about 30,000 people of over 130 nationalities.
