CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has developed a cost-effective deepwater video and photographic data collection platform to service the offshore oil and gas industry’s growing demand for deepwater environmental baseline surveys. The new system is capable of collecting video data in 4k Ultra HD format, which has four times greater resolution than traditional HD video.
Gordon Stevens, CSA Vice President, General Manager explains the overall benefits of these types of camera systems: “The ability to deploy the system in either a drop or towed configuration offers significant cost savings over ROVs or AUVs for deepwater seafloor video collection due to reduced mobilization/demobilization time, lower operational day rates, reduced vessel size requirements, higher production rates, and overall portability. These benefits are passed down to our clients through reduced days at sea and lower project costs overall.”
CSA has successfully used a variety of video systems in various locations around the world in depths exceeding 3,000 m for environmental baseline surveys, benthic habitat characterizations, clearance surveys, and general research programs. Within the last six months, CSA collected video and still images at 3,000 m depths for oil and gas operations offshore Mexico and Colombia using an older 3,000-m rated, HD video system. Based on the company’s five decades of experience offshore, CSA has found that towed/drop video systems still provide the best value for offshore video data collection in many situations compared to ROVs and AUVs.
In order to best serve their clients, CSA has continually upgraded its capability to stay at the forefront of underwater imagery and data collection—the firm has visually documented thousands of miles of the world’s seafloor over the past 48 years. In addition, CSA has designed and interfaced the latest technology in photographic and video equipment to various platforms such as divers, ROVs, AUVs, and USVs as well as towed/drop video systems.