Case Studies

Predator-ROV is new in the market, yet is built on years of experience. Here are some of the stories of early success.

“I was very impressed by how easily the trainees were able to begin using it...
Predator performs very well. It’s far more responsive than other ROVs in its class that I’ve worked with. 
It’s far easier to control, and its responses are extremely accurate."

PREDATOR IN TRAINING

Nigel Brazier is the Manager of Subsea Training for Global Marine Systems. He works at Global’s Portland UK training center, where the company provides operations training for all classes of ROV's following IMCA guidelines. Global has recently begun introducing the Predator Inspection ROV into its courses.

“Although the Predator is just being formally brought to market, we decided to let our latest class of students get some hands-on experience with it.” Brazier said. “I was very impressed by how easily the trainees were able to begin using it. They continually mentioned how user-friendly it was, and how it was so much easier to handle than the ROV we had been using throughout their training.”

Among the features cited by the new ROV operators was the graphic display.  “My students found the user interface to be excellent, as did I,” said Brazier.  “Normally, there are multiple screen displays for an ROV. The Predator uses just one, which makes it far easier for an operator to focus.”  The hand controller also received high marks from Brazier’s students, as did its auto-depth and auto-heading capabilities.  “The Predator’s quite compact and sleek, and the interesting thing is that it’s compact and sleek without sacrificing any power,” he added.

As an experienced ROV operator and trainer, Brazier finds that many Predator features really stand out. “Overall, the Predator performs very well. It’s far more responsive than other ROVs in its class that I’ve worked with.  It’s far easier to control, and its responses are extremely accurate.”  The ease of maintenance is another area where Brazier believes that the Predator has the market lead. “The ability to change components so rapidly will definitely help minimize any vehicle downtime.”

In addition to using the Predator at its training facilities, Global Marine has successfully used the Predator for hull inspections.  The company plans to use the vehicle for a wide range of tasks within its telecom and energy divisions .  These tasks include observation, inspection and intervention operations, working from their ships and barges during installation and maintenance operations of cables and umbilicals.