SAIPEM has won a key contract from Shell and Petrobras for deploying its FlatFish subsea drone in two pilot projects involving inspection of two ultra-deepwater fields offshore Brazil. The Italian engineering and construction giant described the two projects as falling within the framework of the research and development programme of ANP, the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Bio-fuels. Flatfish has been developed with Shell under a Brazilian initiative dedicating a small percentage of royalties from the pre-salt fields to research and development. "The target is to qualify the drone to execute unmanned, vessel-free inspections to support the monitoring and maintenance of subsea infrastructures," Saipem said. Saipem has taken FlatFish through the industrialisation phase with the ultimate objective of unlocking deep-water opera- tions, in more than 2000 metres of water depth.
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