Hibbard Inshore Offshore ROV and Hybrid AUV / ROV Operations

Hibbard Inshore provides a range of ROV and hybrid AUV / ROV-based underwater inspection, survey and intervention services to aid your project in each stage of its lifecycle.

With a focus on reducing the required vessel size for projects, all of Hibbard Inshore’s remotely operated vehicle systems are set up to be highly transportable. All systems can be air shipped and are designed to be used on vessels of opportunity throughout the world.

We are uniquely experienced and outfitted to provide innovative and cost-effective underwater solutions. Some examples of services we can perform throughout the lifespan of underwater assets are as follows:

Underwater ROVs and AUVs for inspection, survey and intervention services

Hibbard Inshore can use its fleet of underwater vehicles to perform inspections and intervention tasks on pipelines, ocean outfalls, inter-island potable water lines, cables, generating assets and oceanographic sensors. In addition, the fleet can be utilized for ordinance surveys.

Pre-installation services

Hibbard Inshore can carry out the following pre-installation services:

• Site condition surveys to determine the bottom character at each installation location
• Route surveys to map the path for cables or pipelines and to identify hazardous bottom structures
• Environmental survey and oceanographic sensor deployment and retrieval used for site condition assessment (assures the proper placement and orientation of sensors to gather data)

ROV and AUV-based services during underwater installation

Hibbard Inshore can carry out the following services during underwater installation:

• Cable lay touchdown surveys to ensure that the cable is placed in the proper location, reducing risk to the cable from unknown bottom features
• Site verification surveys to ensure that the installation site bottom has not changed between location selection and the installation day
• Installation monitoring using video, sonar, and underwater positioning to guide equipment installation
• Transmission cable installation to connect power cables to installed generating units
• Post-lay cable surveys to confirm as-built alignment of the cable

Post-installation and maintenance inspection services for underwater assets

Hibbard Inshore can carry out the following post-installation and maintenance services:

• Structural inspections to check units for degradation, storm damage, scour, and marine growth
• Pipeline and manifold inspections following the length of the line and stopping to perform detail inspection at each manifold
• Unit maintenance and call-out services, including cleaning, cutting, lifting, repairing, and other intervention

Underwater vehicles, sensors and tooling

Hibbard Inshore operates both ROVs and AUV / ROVs. Hibbard Inshore operates ROVs that are depth rated to 2,000m, and AUV / ROVs can be provided with up to 1,200m of depth rating. This fleet of vehicles allows Hibbard Inshore to provide near-shore solutions with a wide range of capabilities allowing us to scale the service to the project.

ROV services for the offshore industry

Hibbard Inshore’s ROVs can be used in conjunction with positioning and tracking systems as well as UT gauges and multiple sonar units, including profiling, sector scan, multi-beam, and 3D units.

All of the vehicles come with low-light monochrome and color zoom cameras. In addition, Hibbard Inshore can provide ROV-based pipe tracking systems and a variety of electrical or hydraulic tools. These tools, including cutters, manipulators, torque tools, drills, and custom tools, can be added for intervention tasks.

Hybrid AUV / ROV services

Hibbard Inshore provides advanced hybrid AUV / ROV services for bottom survey, mapping and object location. The Hibbard Inshore hybrid AUV / ROV comes standard with cameras, sonar, GPS, inertial navigation system, and Doppler velocity log to accurately track position while surveying.

Surveys can be performed in a grid format or by following other preset routes. Pipelines and cables can be followed and inspected while the hybrid AUV / ROV performs object avoidance as in the case of manifolds along a pipeline.

In addition to more conventional AUV applications, Hibbard Inshore also runs the hybrid AUV / ROV in an ROV mode over a fiber optic tether. The hybrid AUV / ROV is particularly useful in its design as it can stop, hover, and closely examine a point of interest. Traditional AUVs are limited to operating only in cruise mode due to instability at zero speed.

The ability of the hybrid AUV / ROV to operate in ROV mode with real-time maneuvering control and real-time data visualization can present cost savings to our customers. This eliminates the need to carry two separate vehicles to the site.

During the initial portion of a survey in AUV mode, points of interest would be identified and cataloged. The same vehicle – without returning to port – can then visit all of the points of interest in the catalog by switching the hybrid AUV / ROV to ROV mode. Traditionally, a survey would require two separate vehicles that either would be deployed during two separate trips or would collectively require a larger vessel for deployment.