The National Subsea Centre (NSC), a center of excellence for subsea research and technology development, has been awarded a grant to develop a subsea decommissioning optimization software demonstrator with PlanSea, a developer of marine logistics artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The grant was awarded to the National Subsea Centre and PlanSea by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in partnership with Scottish Enterprise (SE) to assist in developing a subsea decommissioning optimization AI-Demonstrator.
As global operators face the challenges of large-scale and complex subsea decommissioning, there is an identified need for optimization in this area to secure a cost-effective and resource-efficient outcome whilst contributing to net zero targets by reducing emissions.
The National Subsea Centre and PlanSea have collaborated for many years to utilize AI to optimize marine logistics. Together the two organizations will now deploy the technology and skills developed to address the needs of the subsea decommissioning sector.
The two organizations are developing a robust task-based formalization of offshore decommissioning activities that will extend the benefits of PlanSea marine-logistics AI in this space.
As a result of this, decision-makers would have the ability to simulate with a high degree of accuracy the cause-effect relationship between different strategies and KPIs of interest. The project is set to produce a robust AI tool, fast-tracked for initial trials in the second quarter of 2025.
“The AI demonstrator is aimed at addressing both standalone and collaborative campaign optimization of current and future decommissioning. Additionally, as in marine logistics, we offer a digitalized process for users whilst at the same time enhancing visibility of operational activity,” said Jim Cargill, CEO of PlanSea.
“Our center is uniquely positioned to address the subsea industry’s most pressing challenges. Our in-depth knowledge of marine operations offers a great opportunity to collaborate with PlanSea to provide operators with substantial savings and reduce emissions.
"I am confident that this collaborative project will harness our research expertise and PlanSea’s cutting-edge industrial knowledge to deliver a pioneering solution for the energy transition,” added James Njuguna, NSC Director of Research & Innovation.