Application of ROV'S in erection and maintenance of off-shore objects

Production and distribution of gas and oil stands for important issue of economical and political stability in certain company or region. Increasing level of gas exploitation in Adriatic sea requires new quality level standard in erection and maintenance of coastal and off-shore objects that are used for gas and oil production, transportation and distribution, especially on the area of environmental protection. Problems of safety, technical and economical limitations which appears during the activities on construction placed below the water line are directly connected with the presence of human divers which are involved in underwater inspection and maintenance activities. Therefore underwater activities must be predicted and precisely planned in the project realisation. In nowadays, there is very large number of remotely operated (ROV) or autonomous (AUV) vehicles that are designed for underwater activities and also this vehicles are being used in underwater inspection and maintenance work. In this paper some basic issues of this vehicles are introduced, and beside that, review of activities which are being conducted in scope of underwater welding and quality assurance project on Faculty for mechanical engineering and naval architecture, Department of Welded Structures is given.