International Submarine Engineering Ltd was awarded a development contract in December, 2007 by Cybernetix S.A. of Marseille, France. The contract is to conduct the design and engineering work on a new
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) platform, known as SWIMMER. The contract comprises
engineering Phase 1 of the SWIMMER project.
Since 2001, Cybernetix has proven that the concept of using a hybrid AUV-ROV for inspection,
maintenance and repair (IMR) tasks in deep water oil fields and remote locations are both feasible
and economic. This concept deploys a dedicated AUV that is the shuttle, and is only one subsystem
of the overall SWIMMER concept. The other component is a lightweight work Remotely
Operated Vehicle (ROV) system to a deep water structure where it is fully capable of the tasks
required of a traditional ROV. This vehicle system eliminates compounded costs involved with
surface vessel transport and standby, as well as other costs that can be extensive such as
deployment time, labor and handling.