Fugro’s Blue Essence USV performs its first remote survey offshore Germany

December 26, 2025, by Nadja Skopljak

The Blue Essence uncrewed surface vessel (USV) owned by the Netherlands-headquartered Fugro has completed its first remote survey in German waters.

The 12-meter-long USV delivered the work in collaboration with TenneT Germany.

The J-Tube inspection was controlled entirely from Fugro’s onshore remote operations center in Aberdeen, the UK, the company said.

To remind, this summer Fugro made what it said was an industry-first for pipelay support services, performing a remote survey for a 433-kilometer trunkline offshore Western Australia using Blue Essence.

The work included a series of survey campaigns said to have played a critical role in supporting Saipem’s completion of the trunkline installation for Woodside Energy’s Scarborough energy project, located in the Carnarvon Basin.

As Fugro explained, the route crossed existing subsea infrastructure that included pipelines and fiber optic cables owned by other operators, in addition to extra complexity due to environmental constraints and the pipeline’s proximity to shipping lanes, a loading jetty, and the shore crossing at the LNG plant.

Therefore, the Blue Essence USV was put to work to support the pipeline installation during the critical nearshore phase.