Saipem’s FlatFish drone cleared for offshore deployment after Petrobras testing

Saipem’s autonomous underwater inspection drone FlatFish completed a key testing phase under its contract with Petrobras, clearing the way for offshore deployment in Brazil’s ultra-deepwater fields. FlatFish is a hybrid, fully autonomous underwater vehicle developed under Saipem’s Hydrone robotics program, designed to perform complex inspection tasks at depths of up to 3,000 m.

The milestone follows the successful completion of Functional Acceptance Tests, conducted in a controlled environment to verify mission autonomy, data quality and overall system performance against contractual requirements. Based on the results, Petrobras has approved progression to the final project phase, which will see the technology deployed in a real offshore setting.

The testing campaign took place at Saipem’s underwater drone facility in Trieste, Italy, in the presence of Petrobras representatives. During the program, FlatFish carried out multiple fully autonomous inspection missions, including subsea structure and pipeline inspections, cathodic protection measurements and wall-thickness assessments.