Seaeye Leopard Arrives at ROVOP’s Houston Base

ROVOP has expanded its fleet of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for the US region.

Namely, the company said it has taken delivery of Seaeye Leopard electric work class ROV, the first of its kind for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and believed it could help operators reduce costs by 40 percent.

The ROV is suited to work tasks such as drill support, pipeline survey, exploration, salvage, cleaning and IRM.

Wayne Betts, president of ROVOP Inc., said: “The latest investment further strengthens our long established working relationship with Saab Seaeye. The Leopard system can reduce costs by 40% in comparison with traditional ROV systems, both in terms of equipment and personnel costs.

“ROVOP has realigned its service offering to ensure we are competitive, versatile and flexible to meet our clients’ requirements in this challenging market. Recent contract wins, coupled with an ongoing demand across our fleet, makes it clear how our adaptable and customer-centric approach works.

“Further savings are also achievable, beyond our lower charges, when using the Leopard vehicle due to the small topside footprint enabling deployment from smaller vessels and directly from platforms. The addition of the Leopard system further underpins our capabilities, enhances our service offering and will bring considerable added value for our customers in terms of cost effectiveness,” added Betts.

Managing director of Saab Seaeye, Jon Robertson, said: “We are extremely pleased that ROVOP has selected the Leopard system, which opens a new market segment in cost effective work class ROV solutions, and that they have decided to deploy this system in the GoM where we expect the industry will respond well to a step change in costs.

“The work capability of the system, together with its exceptional ability to work in high currents well beyond traditionally accepted ROV limits, gives us confidence that the Leopard will be a success in the GoM as it has been proving to be in other regions. Strong sales of the Leopard reflect the fact that it meets the need to reduce costs for operators.”