Nexxis inked a deal with Canadian company Inuktun Services which designs and makes robotic crawlers used for remote visual inspection and non-destructive testing on offshore floating production storage and offloading vessels and FLNG facilities.
They can also be used underwater for subsea applications and aboveground climbing vertically inside pipes, on walls or in confined spaces.
Nexxis founder Jason De Silveira told Energy News that fundamentally, everything the robotic crawler does is about doing things smarter and cheaper - which is ultimately what remote visual inspection is all based around.
For Nexxis, this is a distinct expansion in its capabilities from being a topside high-tech borescope inspection company into the subsea world.
De Silveira said that with the oil price where it is, the industry going further offshore to find and produce hydrocarbons and innovative technologies like FLNG on the verge of taking off, the industry is on the cusp of technological change right along the value chain.
The question is whether operators, contractors and sub-contractors are willing to take that leap of faith in new technologies.
"Everyone is on the cusp of it, everyone's talking about it … we're dealing with Bhagwan Marine, ApplusRTD, all chomping at the bit, itching to make that first step," he told Energy News.
"Inuktun's robotics are specifically designed for really high-tech. Its technology is what they use to go inside the Fukushima power plants, so that's where these guys sit in the design and technology space, with customisable robotics to suit oil and gas applications.
"It's just being able to think laterally and realise that we've done it 15-20 years this way, but things are changing and we need to be smarter about it.
"It's a cliché - everyone's saying it - but while adapting to change is something people want to do, can they? That's the question we always ask - are you actually ready to jump in and actually commit to change, because we've got better ways of doing things as the technology is starting to appear."
He said the vertical crawler was a first for Australia with the capacity to be deployed above the surface or for subsea applications, the advantage being the versatility which could extend beyond the oil and gas sector to military, aviation, mining, manufacturing, and search and rescue.
"Importantly the robots are environmentally friendly and tick many safety boxes," De Silveira said.
"When used for subsea applications, the risk to human divers is significantly reduced; while they also offer measurable cost savings through more streamlined performance.
The Micromag and MaggUT crawler, for example, attaches to the side of a hull and perform thickness testing, completes visual inspections and undertakes cleaning tasks both above the surface and beneath the waterline.
FLNG growth option
Aurecon's global industry director oil and gas John Wood said earlier this year that while Australia had received over two thirds of the global investment in LNG development - including FLNG as well as traditional land-based developments - the shelving of some high-profile LNG projects in the second half of 2014 led the industry to look offshore for cheaper options.
"The slowdown in onshore projects has come down to one simple thing, development costs in Australia are anywhere from 20-30% more expensive than the offshore options," Wood said.
"If we compare the wages of welders in different global locations it becomes clear. A welder working on the Shell Prelude FLNG project, at its place of construction - a ship yard in South Korea - earns around $A74,000 a year, a welder on a project in northern Western Australia (earns) around $250,000 a year.
"As a result, we are seeing the onshore market in Australia shifting from major project construction to asset management, and support and service as capacity comes on line, accompanied by a move towards offshore FLNG."
