Woodside enters new era with its first-ever remote subsea inspection in the Gulf
Subsea inspections for the Shenzi asset, located 195 km off the coast of Louisiana, have entered the remote era – marking an exciting new chapter for Woodside’s Subsea Integrity Management in International Operations.
This is Woodside’s first-ever remote inspection in the US, and it’s believed to be one of the first approved by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in the US. Remote inspections offer many benefits, not least saving time, employing innovation and boosting efficiency.
Most importantly, they reduce risks to human safety by minimising the need for close contact.
Prior to this campaign, which began at the end of May and is ongoing, inspections were conducted offshore, requiring the full team – including inspectors, engineers and support personnel – to be physically present on the inspection vessel. The transition to remote inspections eliminates the need for full crews to be onboard, significantly reducing human exposure to hazardous offshore environments.
Principal Integrity Engineer Charina Choochert says subsea inspections are a critical part of Woodside’s Gulf operations.
"Whether we are inspecting equipment, monitoring well integrity, or performing maintenance, doing these tasks enhances safety, reliability and operational efficiency," Charina points out.
“So we are thrilled that we have been able to take a significant step forward for subsea integrity management by transitioning to remote subsea inspections.”
Woodside has collaborated with contractor Wood to launch the first-ever International Operations remote subsea inspection and Underwater Inspection In Lieu of Drydocking (UWILD) campaigns in the Gulf. Previously, data was collected offline at the site and often took several months to review and upload into the Integrity Data Management System (IDMS). Now, remote inspections are saving much-needed time and cost.
“Whereas reports would take up to six months for analysis, we can now review live recordings, identify anomalies, and take action quickly,” Charina explains. “It also means we can re-inspect in real time, and we don’t have to wait for the next inspection campaign. It’s just incredible that we can track findings on a day-to-day basis, and that to me is a huge win for innovation and efficiency.”
The efficiency benefits from remote inspections are significant for Woodside.
This initiative not only delivers reduced personnel offshore and associated downtime from crew changes, it also enables streamlined anomaly response time, overall reporting improvements and improved cost savings. And it has received praise from regulators in the Gulf that are joining the remote operations centre.
“We’re really pleased that regulators like the American Bureau of Shipping have endorsed using remote inspections for large portions of the campaign,” says Frontline Engineering Team Lead Robert Boothby. “This is one of the first approved remote inspections by the ABS in the US and the first ever by Woodside in the US.”
“It raises the game for operators in the Gulf and Woodside is proud to be leading the way. The value of this initiative for Woodside is that we are leaning into our commitment to have world-class operations focused on safety, efficiency and performance. And it’s just been incredible to see the advances that have been made over the past 20 years. The ability to review data sitting in an office over 300 miles from the inspection site is a testament to what’s possible for Woodside and the industry as a whole.”
Jim Siercks, Woodside Operations Manager, says: “I really appreciate the collaboration between Woodside and Wood to further reduce our risk by removing people exposure, lowering inspection to remediation action cycle times, and improving inspection quality.”
“The continued improvement and productive teamwork over the years has been great.”
