ABB’s Octopus for Ultra Deep’s Newbuilds

ABB will provide the technology that would help three vessels safely carry out construction and maintenance tasks up to 5 kilometers under water, the company said Monday.

Namely, the vessels will be equipped with ABB’s OCTOPUS software that uses sensors and the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) to interpret weather conditions, allowing the crew to make informed decisions during sensitive operations.

The ships will be built for Ultra Deep Solutions at CSIC Huangpu Wuchang Shipbuilding Company and China Merchants Heavy Industry.

The largest vessel’s apparatus will include two remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs), that will dive up to 3000 meters, and a 400-ton crane that can drop 5 200 meters. It will measure 142 meters in length.

Juha Koskela, managing director of ABB’s Marine and Ports business, said: “The broad scope of supply we have on these vessels is a demonstration of the wide range of solutions we have to offer the maritime sector. These vessels will benefit from some of the most established software and hardware technologies in the shipping industry.”

The vessels will also feature ABB generators, motors, drives and switchboards.

Jithu Sukumaran Nair, general manager of shipbuilding at Ultra Deep Solutions, said: “We are proud to be the first offshore vessel operator in the world to install the OCTOPUS weather monitoring system on board high tech dive vessels”