World ROV Market
$2.4 Billion by 2012
By Lucy Miller & Rod Westwood
Since 2003, expenditure on work-class ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations has more than tripled. Further strong growth is expected over the next five years -- leading to a total market of some $2.4 billion per year by 2012 -- one of the findings of a new market study "The World ROV Market Report 2008-12" from energy analysts Douglas-Westwood Ltd (DWL).
Remotely Operated Vehicles
The last 50 years or so has seen some dramatic and rather rapid changes in ROV technology. After the first tethered ROV system was built in 1953 by Dimitri Rebikoff, the United States navy invested millions into the design of remote systems, primarily built to perform deepsea rescue operations and recover lost ordnance from the sea floor. CURV, a cable repair vehicle and one of the very
first ROVs was used to recover the hydrogen bomb lost off Spain in 1966, and then rescue the crew of the manned submersible Pisces III from the bed of the Atlantic off Ireland in 1974. However, the majority of growth in the ROV industry came from its move into the commercial arena following the swift development of the offshore oil & gas industry of the 1970s and 80s; the latter end of which introduced offshore developments too deep to be economic for human divers -- ROVs had become an essential part of offshore production. DWL's market forecasts contained within The World ROV Report 2008-2012 focus specifically on work-class vehicles operating in the offshore oil & gas industry as this is the sector where most of the commercial vehicles are employed.
ROV Definitions & Activities
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are electrically powered and controlled via an umbilical, manoeuvring themselves in response to human commands and using either hydraulically or electrically driven thrusters. ROVs have the ability to "hover" and stay on location to perform a task. ROVs are classified roughly by the nature of the task they do and are found working on offshore platforms, support vessels, in nuclear power plants, in reservoirs, and salvage projects and even submarine rescue operations. Work Class ROVs are equipped with manipulators and may have a variety of tools available (cutting disks, saws etc) often via a removable "tool-skid" to suit a particular job. There are some ROVs classed as heavy duty (HD) due to increased payload and power availability, and also a "survey & inspection" class. The personnel operating and maintaining work-class ROVs must be highly trained as the technology involved can be complex. Eyeball Class ROVs are normally all-electric powered and have no manipulators or payload capacity. Eyeball systems are smaller, cheaper and simpler than larger workclass systems and are well suited to the inspection of confined or hazardous underwater areas (internal pipeline inspection and inside nuclear reactors). Many have now
(Photo Credit: Perry Slingsby Systems) 22 MTR November/December 2008
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