For the first time, Underwater Intervention joined the International WorkBoat Show for 2023, putting on a track of presentations and panel discussions as well as a section of exhibitors featuring underwater technology.

Among the exhibitors at Underwater Intervention is Oceaneering International, a technology provider for complex subsea problems.

John Zimmerman, Oceaneering International’s director of business development, spoke with WorkBoat about the company’s work and its newest innovation.

Oceaneering’s work covers a wide swath of use cases and industries, though a large portion of the work is with the oil and gas industry, along with work with the Department of Defense.

“Basically, if it’s subsea and it’s complex, Oceaneering is probably doing it,” Zimmerman said. “Our motto is: ‘We solve the unsolvable.’”

He mostly spoke about two of Oceaneering’s products, its E-ROV (remote operated vehicle) Liberty, and AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) Freedom.

In regards to the former, Oceaneering is looking to solve one of the most expensive problems for subsea operations: Stationing ships above an ROV.

With Liberty, a communication antennae is deployed and communicates with an on-shore center.

The Freedom, meanwhile, is the company’s newest development, with only one in the world right now. According to Zimmerman, this is the first AUV to do autonomous subsea charging and data offload. Typically, these systems store data internally and complete missions which are uploaded beforehand. Freedom, though, can adjust missions while still subsea based on lidar and other sensor readings during inspections and other work. Right now, it is largely being used for oil and gas projects, but there is also interest from the Navy.