Ecopetrol tests its first unmanned submarine vehicle in Caribbean waters

This press release from Ecopetrol was translated using an automatic translation system.

Ecopetrol piloted the 'Pionero 500', its first remotely operated submarine vehicle (ROV), in the Colombian Caribbean waters, which will allow us to expand our knowledge of the seabed and its associated ecosystems, information that will be key to the development of exploration and production projects Offshore (offshore).

Pioneer is a submarine that has the capacity to operate 500 meters deep. It has high resolution video cameras, LED lights, underwater positioning system, a remote operation console, temperature and depth sensors and devices for taking images and solid and liquid samples.

This underwater vehicle was designed and built within the framework of the " Strategic Program for the development of robotic technology aimed at oil exploration of the Colombian seabed" , between the Pontificia Bolivariana University-UPB of Medellín, the National University Headquarters Medellín-UNALMED , Colciencias and Ecopetrol.

Pioneer 500 is the result of seven years of research, including the conceptualization of the project until the development of the prototype, which was put to the test between July 5 and 12 in some locations near Cartagena, specifically in front of Barú, in the Colombian Caribbean. The submarine was transported aboard the ARC Roncador of the General Maritime Directorate (Dimar).

Owned by Ecopetrol, Pioneer 500 will serve to strengthen the capacity and qualification of Colombian engineers for the management of cutting-edge technology in marine exploration, as well as to acquire valuable information on issues of marine archeology, oceanographic measurements and inspection of submerged structures, among other.

The tests were made within the framework of the event "Use, application and appropriation of technological tools for the coastal Colombian marine territorial ordering" that was carried out in Cartagena.

In the same way, together with the Engineering Academy of the United Kingdom, a call for the Newton - Caldas Fund was designed, through which Ecopetrol supports two initiatives. One related to the geotechnical characterization of the seabed in the Colombian Caribbean and is coordinated by the EAFIT-University of Leeds, and a second to develop methodologies for the ordering of maritime activities in the Colombian seas and developed by the UPB and the University of Newcastle.

These projects are examples of collaborative work between universities, companies and the State, in order to know one of the least explored natural scenarios in Colombia and thus understand it, conserve it and take advantage of its opportunities.