Turning the tide on ROV deployment with sea state insights

How smarter ROV deployment starts with smarter, real-time sea state measurement.

The deployment of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is one of the most critical and riskiest activities in offshore operations. These subsea systems are essential for tasks such as inspections, repairs and construction in challenging underwater environments.

But when it comes to deployment, timing is everything. Deploying ROVs at the wrong moment can lead to equipment damage, costly downtime and even safety risks.

Traditionally, offshore teams have relied on experience, weather forecasts and careful planning to mitigate these risks. While this approach provides a margin of safety, it often creates inefficiencies, idle equipment and inflated costs. The growing availability of real-time sea state monitoring and predictive analytics is now transforming how operators plan and execute ROV operations, offering a balance between safety and efficiency.

When deploying ROVs offshore, a range of technical, operational, and environmental factors must be considered. This includes ROV type, health and safety protocols, personnel ability and underwater visibility. Without a doubt, the most important consideration is the sea conditions at the time of the intended deployment.

If an ROV is lowered into the sea when a wave exceeds safe limits, there is an increased risk of collision with the vessel due to loss of control of the ROV, vessel motion and strain on the umbilical that connects the ROV to the ship.

Postponing planned deployments results in increased downtime, project delays, and personnel standby – all of which incur additional costs for the operator.

With local sea state measurement, offshore teams can make informed decisions based on real-time data. Ocean insights provider, Miros, delivers real-time and historical sea state data for offshore operations. Through the use of sensors, waves and currents can be monitored, empowering vessel operators to make informed decisions, moment by moment.

Historically, ROV deployment relied solely on weather forecasting. Despite meteorologists working closely with the maritime industry to develop solutions, forecasts still only provide a prediction of conditions in an area that may cover tens of kilometers. They are not representative of the exact conditions of a precise location at a specific time. Therefore, while forecasting is great for planning, it has limitations when it comes to real-time operational decisions in the offshore industry.

Similarly, other sea-state monitoring methods, such as wave buoys, can result in inaccurate data. Tests have shown that for the most accurate results when using a buoy, the vessel has to be positioned as close to the buoy as possible. Furthermore, buoys occupy a large amount of space on vessels, require up to six months’ lead time to deploy and must be anchored to gather an accurate analysis of the current sea state.

Most importantly, buoys only reveal the conditions of a single point rather than the full picture of the conditions surrounding the vessel. Where weather forecasts cover vast areas and are not specific enough for sea state measurement, buoys are too specific with the data they uncover.

To close this gap, Miros developed WaveSystem, a radar-based sea state monitoring solution that delivers continuous, real-time insight into wave height, period and direction. By installing Miros WaveSystem onboard your vessel and placing one Miros RangeFinder sensor on each bridge wing, vessel operators can monitor the wave direction and wave activity on both port and starboard side of the vessel.

Unlike forecast models or external buoys, WaveSystem measures conditions directly at the vessel’s location, providing decision-makers with site-specific data minute by minute. Often, forecasts can say waves are measuring higher or lower than actual conditions, leading to ROVs deploying when it is not safe to do so or being postponed unnecessarily, resulting in increased downtime.

WaveSystem can also be used to analyze whether the vessels’ positioning should be adjusted to allow deployment. Often, moving a vessel by 90° can help it act as a shield against oncoming waves, creating a ‘shadow zone’ where wave heights are reduced, thereby protecting the ROV from dangerous swells.

A North Sea customer recently encountered a situation where Miros’ data uncovered that changing its vessel heading would allow an ROV to be deployed in less than optimum conditions. Insights from WaveSystem showed that, as a result of shielding, the subsea construction vessel could reduce the Hs (significant wave height) from 1.38m on starboard side to just 0.47m on the port side. This was a 60% reduction in Hs, allowing work to resume.

If an operator solely relies on weather forecasting or a wave buoy, this pauses deployment when it is not always necessary. Sea state insights reduce the uncertainties associated with statistical wave estimates and provide a higher level of situational awareness, enabling operators to differentiate between forecasted risks and actual conditions.

Available as an add-on to its WaveSystem, Miros recently launched a wave and vessel motion prediction technology, PredictifAI®. This application leverages artificial intelligence (AI), alongside radar and precise wave height measurements, to constantly adjust to changing sea and weather conditions. Furthermore, PredictifAI can provide notice of approaching waves from as little as one meter in height and up to two minutes in advance, giving crews critical warning of disruptive motion. This insight improves decision-making and risk management as teams can decide whether to pause or proceed with a launch or time deployment during a lapse in motion.

Operators benefit from this technology as a forecast may show six hours of unsuitable conditions, yet PredictifAI can identify a window within this period where it is suitable for the ROV to be deployed. This saves hours of downtime. However, despite other tools on the market claiming to predict waves up to 10 minutes in advance, this level of foresight is not possible while retaining accuracy.

Data from the system is also automatically stored in the cloud, enhancing collaboration and enabling onshore and offshore teams to access live and historical data for improved decision-making and transparent record-keeping.

As well as the benefits for ROV deployment, sea state measurement is crucial for other offshore operations that require precise positioning, such as crane lifts, anchor handling, and walk-to-work gangways – any activity where safety and timing depend on precise environmental conditions.

By combining real-time measurements with predictive intelligence, Miros is enabling offshore operators to make safer, faster and more cost-effective deployment decisions. The ability to go beyond forecast predictions into actual, hyper-local real-time data significantly increases the identification of launch opportunities, improved safety and confidence, and reduced downtime.

With Miros, the sea can work with offshore teams rather than against them.

Find out more at  https://www.miros-group.com/, or contact us at mailto:[email protected]

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