PROD: Transforming seabed characterisation for deep-water infrastructure

Understanding the challenge of deep-water site investigation 

As offshore wind and subsea energy projects move into deeper waters and more complex environments, the demand for precise seabed data is growing rapidly. Reliable geotechnical information is vital to design safe, efficient subsea infrastructure, yet traditional drillships often struggle to deliver the required quality and speed at depth. 

Acteon is addressing this challenge with advanced seabed drilling technology that enables faster, safer, and more environmentally responsible seabed characterisation worldwide. 

Transforming seabed characterisation with PROD 

Acteon understands that in a changing world, our customers have a need for seabed characterisation to enable safe, efficient subsea infrastructure design and installation. Obtaining quality geotechnical data at deep water depths can be challenging and historically, drillships have failed to deliver. 

UTEC, Acteon’s Geo-services business line, has developed a competitive seafloor-based drilling solution that has a strong track record in oil & gas and is now focused on making a difference in the renewables market. 

The portable remotely operated drill (PROD) is a fully self-contained, remotely operated seabed drilling and geotechnical testing system, capable of operating in water depths up to 3000 m and investigating seabed depths more than 130 m. The first system of its kind in operation, PROD has a proven global track record including operations in ultra-deep water, challenging soil conditions and extreme seabed slopes up to 30°. 

Using the high-quality data generated by PROD, Acteon’s team of experienced geotechnical engineers provides a complete solution, from site investigation planning, data gathering and sample testing, to data integration, interpretation and optimised foundation design. 

Six ways PROD improves offshore site investigation 

1. Save time 

Operating directly on the seabed, PROD avoids the time-consuming deployment of the drill string, yielding immediate efficiency gains. PROD’s ability to switch dynamically between drilling and testing tools in a single deployment or single hole allows the device to penetrate a wide range of soils and deliver a variety of samples, from hard rock to soft sediments, resulting in operations up to five times faster than a drillship. Therefore, there is less vessel fuel burn, which means an overall lower carbon footprint for the project. 

2. Optimise budget 

When relocated subsea between test sites, PROD can also conduct multiple borings in a single deployment from the vessel. In deep water, PROD has been shown to deliver a lower cost per metre of data than other testing methods. 

3. Trusted precision 

With the drill unit located on the seabed, PROD provides a highly stable and controlled platform, enabling our geotechnical team to make precise tool adjustments and collect extremely accurate data. From the first millimetre to the last millimetre, we provide an impeccable sample. 

4. Safety first 

Safety is a key consideration in the PROD design. Deployed on an umbilical and controlled remotely by computer, human interaction with heavy mechanical equipment is kept to a minimum. PROD eliminates the need to manipulate pipe sections on the deck, a major cause of accidents offshore. As a result, it has achieved an outstanding safety record in deployments around the world. 

5. Minimise environmental impact 

PROD has a lower environmental impact than traditional geotechnical drilling methods and produces minimal noise during its seabed operations, with the ability to utilise biodegradable hydraulic and environmentally considerate drilling fluids. PROD has been designed to produce minimal disturbance to the seabed and deliver undisturbed samples from the mudline, with a borehole depth accuracy of 25 mm while helping customers achieve their environmental goals. 

6. Engineering expertise 

Using PROD technology, Acteon’s experienced geotechnical engineers can generate a highly accurate dataset, adjusting the testing regime while the device is in operation to produce optimal information for each customer’s objectives. With extensive experience in geotechnical site investigation, data analysis and foundation design, we offer a complete end-to-end testing and design solution. The expertise of our teams takes the risk out of projects and allows us to efficiently drill seabeds, providing reliability and the highest data quality to our customers. 

Proven in the field: Global projects show PROD’s capability 

Since 2000, PROD has proven itself in over 80 varied projects, including site investigations for jack-up and platform foundations, FPSO anchor spreads, subsea structures and pipelines. PROD has been particularly successful when presented with challenging conditions such as extreme seabed slopes, very soft sediments, adverse sea-states, and operations close to existing platforms, pipelines or seabed structures. 

Project highlights 

1. Palma District, Tungué Bay, Mozambique

Water Depth: 0–1,400 m | System: PROD 1 | Client: Anadarko

The work scope included geotechnical survey operations off the coast of Mozambique in Tungué Bay and surrounding areas to obtain data for maritime navigation, sub-surface characterisation, hazard identification, and development of seabed mechanical properties. 
We developed TracPROD, a portable shallow-water tracked modification to PROD, enabling operations from shore to 1,400 m depth from the same vessel. TracPROD was launched from a flat-bottomed vessel, driven away to the umbilical’s maximum range, and operated continuously even in positive LAT locations where the seabed becomes exposed at low tide. 

2. BM-C-33 & BM-S-8 Blocks, Brasil

Water Depth: 2,100–2,900 m | Penetration Depth: 60 m | System: PROD 3 | Client: Equinor | Vessel: M/V Sable Chouest 

Operations included soil sampling, CPT testing, box-coring, ROV work, coral surveys and feature confirmations. Piezometers were installed for year-long pore pressure monitoring. The resulting data supported slope stability and geohazard feasibility assessments and informed geotechnical design concept studies. 

3. Santos Dorado Field, Australia 

Borehole Depth: 100 m | System: PROD 2 | Vessel: MMA Vigilant 

The work included geophysical and geotechnical surveys using the PROD 2 system, capable of switching between piston sampling and rotary coring to maximise productivity. It recovers 75 mm cores in up to 3,000 m water depths, isolated from vessel motion for greater efficiency. Acteon’s Australian offshore crew provided a low-risk, efficient solution through local execution capability. 

Early collaboration enables faster, smarter deployment 

Customers need data as quickly as possible, often at short notice. At Acteon, we are proactive and give you the confidence that we can meet your schedule. Communicating with us ahead of the tender allows us to mobilise our equipment to the region where it will be needed, to prepare for rapid call-off once the project starts. You can then take advantage of the optimisation of foundation designs and achieve more certainty on project cost.