Rovco, a global provider of technology-enabled project solutions to the offshore renewable energy sector, has launched a new, dedicated marine site characterisation business line, to help address a crucial industry shortfall of companies with the all-round skills and expertise to carry out site consenting surveys prior to the construction of new offshore installations.
The new division will serve the offshore energy sector, providing clients with a comprehensive range of survey solutions, including hydrographic, geophysical, shallow geotechnical, metocean and environmental surveys.
At the heart of the new business line, is the latest addition to Rovco’s fleet, the multi-purpose DP2 survey vessel, Glomar Supporter. On long-term charter from Glomar, the vessel underwent an extensive rebuild and refurbishment in 2021 and has been reconfigured to permanently carry an entire suite of state-of-the-art survey sensors and equipment, aimed at providing the highest quality data capture, reporting and technology-enabled solutions for a streamlined and efficient site characterisation offering. This package offers complete flexibility while on site, to adapt and respond to different challenges in a single offshore trip.
This removes the need for frequent returns to port to remobilise or reconfigure equipment, significantly reducing overall survey time, bringing significant schedule efficiencies and cost savings to clients.
“It is widely accepted that the offshore industry is critically undersupplied in terms of available capacity to carry out pre-consenting, pre-construction site characterisation surveys, which are carried out to identify the safest and most efficient location for wind turbines and other infrastructure,” said Craig Davis, Director of Site Characterisation at Rovco. “This shortfall in capability is likely to become even more acute as new offshore projects get the go-ahead on both sides of the North Sea and the wider Northeast Atlantic.
“By reducing the time required for every project through a more efficient, streamlined approach, Rovco will help ease this bottleneck, creating greater capacity to service the market. Instrumental to this, will be the deployment of cutting-edge, disruptive underwater technology combined with world-leading data collection, analysis, and distribution.
“In addition to the substantial investment we have made in the vessel, we are also investing in personnel, bringing together key people with the particular skills set and expertise who can deliver a world-class service. Clients are looking for speed, efficiency and the convenience of a one-stop shop solution, where all their survey requirements can be met at the very highest standards by a single contractor.”