Cost cuts unlocked as DeepOcean unifies two subsea operations into one

April 16, 2026, by Nadja Skopljak

DeepOcean has performed an inspection and 3D scanning of subsea infrastructure in a single operation rather than as two separate ones as typically done, at an offshore field in Senegal operated by Woodside Energy.

DeepOcean has completed a full-field baseline subsea survey and a full 3D scan simultaneously for the first time at scale and without deploying additional offshore personnel, encompassing 69 subsea structures.

This was performed at Woodside’s Sangomar deepwater field offshore Senegal, located 100 kilometers south of Dakar, which began production in June 2024. This is Senegal’s first offshore oil development.

Subsea construction vessel Island Ocean, which is operating in the region, performed the subsea scope.

DeepOcean said that its offering to conduct simultaneous routine inspection tasks and 3D scanning of subsea infrastructure consists of inspection engineers, ROV pilots, ROVs equipped with specialized scanning equipment, data processing software that enables the use of computer-aided drawings (CAD), ROV footage and sonar, digital twin, and proprietary subsea 3D Imaging software that converts the data to real 3D Models.

“Completing an inspection routine and 3D scanning of subsea infrastructure have historically been performed in two separate ROV operations,” says Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean. “However, we have developed a remotely supported holistic system that allows us to conduct both operations simultaneously – enabling us to cut vessel days and costs for the operator. We are really pleased that Woodside wanted to trial the solution and of course the successful result.”

It was reported in June 2024 that DeepOcean had been put in charge of subsea inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) services for the Sangomar field, including project management, engineering, survey, intervention, and maintenance, as well as additional services such as underwater inspection of FPSO (UWILD) and standalone ROV operations.

For this milestone, the company was tasked with executing a scanning-for-planning campaign covering 69 subsea structures, including 17 subsea trees. The objective was to capture high-resolution data to support the detailed planning and execution of future inspection and maintenance activities.

“We completed the simultaneous operation at slightly above half the time it would traditionally take to perform two separate operations, while doubling the data output for Woodside,” said Robin Mawhinney, Executive Vice President for DeepOcean’s EMEA region. “We believe performing the simultaneous operation at scale without deployment of additional personnel on board was an industry first, but the most important thing is that we have successfully proven that there are substantial time and cost savings associated with this approach.”