Geoscience and AUV Surveys

We have performed more than 400,000 km (or 75,000 hours) of high-resolution surveys, including pipeline inspections, to date.

As the first to offer commercial autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) survey services to the offshore oil and gas industry, our expertise and commitment enable us to provide cost-effective surveying on a global scale.
We also complete shallow-water hydrographic and geophysical surveys for both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and oil and gas customers. Our integrated service approach enables us to offer a variety of shallow-water hazard survey and geophysical mapping options to address even the most complex needs.

AUV Asset and Pipeline Inspection Surveys

We use high-quality and reliable pipeline and flowline inspection methods to verify subsea asset integrity, even in the deepest waters. Our AUV surveys provide higher-quality data than previous methods, while also being faster and more cost-effective than those methods.

AUV Survey Data Sheet

AUV Pipeline Inspection Data Sheet

AUV Asset and Site Survey Data Sheet

We have performed a wide variety of specialized AUV surveys, including downed aircraft searches, shipwreck investigations, subsidence studies, deepwater coral mapping, environmental studies, and high-resolution 3D microseismic at 13-ft (4-m) line spacing. Our services also include geohazard, archaeological, pipeline preliminary, as-built, government, academic, and deepwater benthic community surveys.

Our newest AUV survey technology, C-Surveyor VI, features a standard payload of side-scan sonar, multibeam echosounder, and subbottom profiler. The vehicle is also integrated with innovative sensors that include a 3D bathymetric laser, a camera photo mosaic system, a hydrocarbon detector, and a magnetometer.

Geohazard Surveys

These surveys identify hazardous seabed and near-seabed conditions for the project. Our customized sensor suite provides unmatched data quality to identify potential geohazards, including submarine landslides, mass transport complexes, debris flows, shallow gas accumulations, faults, mud volcanoes, and methane hydrates.

Geophysical Surveys Data Sheet
Software | | Software

IntegReview Software

Our software and geographic information system (GIS) developers have created an innovative tool for visualizing diverse data types within the ArcGIS environment. The software is primarily used for pipeline inspection surveys.

Professional Geoscience Services

We provide geohazard assessments, marine archaeological assessments, and integrated geotechnical/geophysical studies. Our geoscience reports meet or exceed international engineering requirements along with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) guidelines.

Professional Geoscience Services Data Sheet

Our geoscience professionals specialize in the processing, interpretation, and reporting of high-resolution geophysical data. Our teams also develop desktop studies and AUV pipeline inspection reports.

Survey data collected for field developments or export pipeline routes provide engineers with front-end engineering design (FEED) data for the installation of proposed pipelines, flowlines, umbilicals, or other infrastructure. Geophysical data from deepwater AUV and conventional shelf surveys can also be incorporated in these studies. Our high-resolution site characterization survey reports assess seabed and subsurface geohazards and the impact of the proposed operations on archaeological resources.

Shallow-Water Hazard Surveys

Our decades of experience and integrated approach enable us to offer an unmatched portfolio of surveying and mapping options addressing shallow-water hazard and geophysical survey requirements.
  • Nautical charting surveys
  • Data processing and deliverables
  • Hurricane debris surveys
  • Prehistoric and historic marine archaeological surveys
  • Wellsite hazard surveys
  • Pipeline engineering and hazard surveys
    • Route clearance surveys
    • Pre-lay surveys
    • As-built surveys
  • Decommissioning clearance surveys
  • Pipeline river crossing surveys
  • Geotechnical soil sampling
  • Telecommunications cable and pipeline landing site surveys
  • Anchor scar investigation surveys
  • Sand search surveys
  • Burial assessment surveys
  • Leg-hole inspection surveys

Site Clearance and Verification Surveys

We provide BSEE-compliant site clearance and verification surveys for subsea decommissioning. We provide a side-scan sonar survey over a removed well or platform with a letter report and map identifying any debris within a 600-ft (182-m) radius (for a single-pile caisson) or a 1,320-ft (402-m) radius (for a platform).
We can complete surveys in all water depths by using small survey launches [26-ft (8-m) vessel], the AUV on the DSV Ocean Project [a 200-ft (61-m) vessel with a deepwater-rated AUV]. We can provide a Plan of Operations for submission to BSEE as well as any regulatory service or consulting in the process.

Submarine Cable Route Surveys

Our Bothell, Wash., location provides highly mobile geophysical and hydrographic survey expertise in challenging and remote locations worldwide. Our scientists and engineers are trained in all aspects of shallow-water and nearshore survey operations. We have worked in locations from the Arctic and the Caribbean to the Strait of Magellan, as well as the Middle East—in total, we have completed surveys in more than 35 countries since 2005.

DSV Ocean Project

The DSV Ocean Project is a U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant vessel built in 2011. The vessel is equipped with an electric light work class ROV and an AUV, enabling cost-effective subsea survey and inspection.

Ocean Project Data Sheet

The 200-ft by 46-ft (61-m by 14-m) vessel is outfitted with 50-person accommodations—14 for vessel crew members and 36 for offshore workers. The vessel’s inspection vehicles are capable of meeting deepwater needs with ratings to 10,000 fsw (3,000 msw).

The Ocean Project features 3,000 ft² (278 m²) of open deck space, a baffled moon pool, and a 40-t boom crane to meet a wide range of needs offshore.

Contact Us | Geoscience and AUV Surveys

Company page Since our founding in the early 1960s, Oceaneering has expanded and grown globally to service several industries such as the offshore energy industry, defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. In 1964, Mike Hughes and Johnny Johnson formed a Gulf of Mexico diving company called World Wide Divers. The company grew in response to increasing demand for their services and in 1969 merged with two other diving companies to form Oceaneering International, Inc. To solve the toughest challenges, we do things differently, creatively, and smarter. As your trusted partner, our unmatched experience and truly innovative portfolio of technologies and solutions give us the flexibility to adapt and evolve, regardless of market conditions. Our mission is to solve the unsolvable. We thrive by creating industry-changing technically creative solutions for the most complex operational challenges under water, on land, and in space. Our five core values establish a common culture and demonstrate what is most important for us as a company. Since the beginning, the company has transformed from a small regional diving company into a global provider of engineered products and services. Today, we develop products and services for use throughout the lifecycle of an offshore oilfield, from drilling to decommissioning. We operate the world's premier fleet of work class ROVs. Additionally, we are a leader in offshore oilfield maintenance services, umbilicals, subsea hardware, and tooling. We also serve the aerospace, defense, and theme park industries. Underpinning everything we do, safety is not only the foundation of our core values, but it is vital to our unmatched performance record and company culture. The industries we serve are as diverse as they are complex. Whether we are engineering deepwater umbilicals or developing robotics for aerospace applications, the safety and health of our employees, vendors, and customers is an integral part of our day-to-day business. If we are working, then our responsibility is to be working safely. Since our inception in 1964, we have placed a high value on employee safety—from diving services and subsea inspection to vessel-based installation operations. We have and will continue to evolve not only our health, safety, and environmental (HSE) processes, but those of the industries in which we work. Although we have been fatality-free since 1999, our HSE journey goes beyond statistics. As our portfolio of services has grown, we have continued to prioritize and advance our approach to HSE.