The ocean floor is a busy place these days. Decades of oil and gas exploration mean that the seabed is widely covered with platforms, wellheads and other submersible equipment, notto mention the hundreds of thousands of kilometers of pipeline and cable that carry oil, gas, electricity and data across the world's oceans. All this infrastructure needs to be carefully and precisely positioned which presents a challengeforcompanies engaged in oil and gas exploration and production atsea. Once in positionthefurther challenge remainsforshipsto safely operate amongst this infrastructure without causing damage to it making the use of anchors difficult. Moreover, the increasing demand for hydrocarbons is leading these companies to carry out their exploration activities in deeper waters, and when you're sitting on top of 3,000-4,000m of water, it is simply not possible to drop anchor.
展开▼