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Subsea Inspection

Client Phoenix/Sonsub - Repsol YPF

Problem
Ultrasonic survey of sunken tanker hull (70,000 tonne Prestige - lying at 4,000m depth of NW coast of Spain) to facilitate recovery of residual oil using 'hot tap' technique to transfer product to recovery shuttle

Approach
Remote (ROV) deployment and manipulation of specially configured TOFD array providing real time topside data acquisition and display for on-line analysis to confirm structural features so as to perform 'tapping' operations in suitable areas.

Result
Despite extreme distance, depth (& therefore pressure conditions - survey, tapping and oil extraction effected as planned