Saipem’s subsea drone clears tests with Petrobras ahead of offshore deployment

March 19, 2026, by Nadja Skopljak

Saipem’s underwater inspection drone (UID) FlatFish has completed a test campaign with Brazil’s oil & gas major Petrobras as part of a contract awarded in 2023, ahead of deployment in a real offshore environment.

The functional acceptance tests (FAT) were held at Saipem’s underwater drone testing facility in Trieste, Italy, in the presence of Petrobras representatives, and showcased the full operational capabilities of FlatFish.

According to Saipem, the tests were executed in a controlled environment, aimed at verifying that all the functions required by the contract, from mission autonomy to data quality, meet the technical and operational standards established before field deployment.

The drone performed multiple fully autonomous inspection missions, including structure and pipeline inspections, cathodic protection measurements, and wall‑thickness assessments, the company stated.

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Technology

Thanks to the positive outcome, Petrobras granted approval to proceed with the final phase of the project which includes the full implementation of the FlatFish technology in a real offshore environment in the ultra-deep waters of Brazil.

The hybrid and fully autonomous FlatFish has been developed as part of Hydrone, Saipem’s underwater robotics program aimed at industrializing a family of underwater robots capable of performing autonomous inspection tasks at depths of up to 3,000 meters.