Saipem: FlatFish winner of 2023 Spotlight on New Technology Award by OTC

Saipem has been conferred the 2023 Spotlight on New Technology® Award by Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) for its FlatFish Autonomous Underwater Inspection Drone. The award is assigned by OTC to those exhibitors who are revolutionizing the future of offshore energy through technological advancement and innovation. The conference is one of the world’s leading offshore energy events, held this year from 1-4 May in Houston, Texas.




For this year’s Spotlight on New Technology award, 15 technologies from 13 companies around the world were selected. The winners are selected based on five key criteria: the technology’s novelty in the marketplace, innovativeness, demonstrated success, broad commercial appeal, and ability to make a significant impact across the offshore industry.

FlatFish is an advanced underwater inspection drone, designed, industrialised and manufactured by Saipem based on a research and development cooperation agreement signed under the ANP program initially between Shell and Senai CIMATEC. FlatFish aims at inspecting and monitoring complex subsea infrastructures in an innovative and safe manner, from shallow waters down to 3,000mwd.

The drone features an advanced AI-based control system and navigation features combined with state-of-the-art inspection capabilities, which have been recently demonstrated in a deepwater pilot project executed in almost 1,800mwd offshore Brazil with the support of Shell Brasil, SAIPEM, Senai CIMATEC and Petrobras, via a JIP (joint industry project).

FlatFish is part of the Hydrone platform, a ground-breaking subsea robotics program conceived to support remote, vessel-free operations conceived to reduce costs, risks and environmental impact of offshore activities (90% fewer CO2 emissions compared to conventional ROV services).

Saipem had previously received the Spotlight on New Technology award for two other proprietary technologies: in 2021 for the Hydrone-R, an underwater intervention drone, and in 2019 for OIE (Offset Installation Equipment), the only technology in the world capable of remotely capping oil well spills due to incidents or blowouts.

Mauro Piasere, Chief Operating Officer of Saipem’s Robotics and Industrialized Solutions Business Line, commented, “This prestigious award is a testament to Saipem’s commitment to the development of cutting-edge solutions for the offshore energy market, namely for subsea asset integrity and security surveillance, enabling further cost efficiency and decarbonization efforts for all future subsea developments for our energy clients. The FlatFish enriches Saipem’s fleet of subsea robotic solutions available to the market and, thanks to its unique and advanced characteristics, will help change the paradigm of underwater inspections for the offshore industry”.

Saipem is a leading company in the engineering, drilling and construction of major projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors, both offshore and onshore. Saipem is “one company” organized into five business lines - Asset Based, Energy Carriers, Offshore Wind, Sustainable Infrastructures, Robotics & Industrialized Solutions. The company has 9 fabrication yards and an offshore fleet of 29 construction vessels (of which 26 owned and 3 owned by third parties and managed by Saipem) and 13 drilling rigs, of which 9 owned. Always oriented towards technological innovation, Saipem is now committed to supporting its customers to accompany them on the energy transition path and Net Zero with increasingly digital means, technologies and processes geared towards environmental sustainability. Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, it is present in over 70 countries around the world and employs over 30,000 people of 130 nationalities.

Location: Milan, Italy