Spinoff for Deepsea Drillships

About this technology

Overview

Deep sea drill ships such as Discoverer Seven Seas drill for oil and gas through thousands of feet of water. Unanchored, they need a method of holding position directly over the drill site often for months. Honeywell, Inc. developed a mechanism for a positioning reference point, the systems employ a small, battery powered beacon placed on the seabed at the drilling site. The beacon emits a sound signal which is picked up by sensitive receivers called hydrophones. The signal is relayed to a shipboard computer which studies a phase lag of each acoustic pulse. Computer analyzes signals to determine what correction is needed to nudge the ship back to proper position.