BP deploys unmanned research vehicles into Gulf of Mexico

The deployment of the technology is part of the company’s long-term monitoring and research programme in the Gulf of Mexico.

The vehicles, known as Wave Gliders and developed by Liquid Robotics in Silicon Valley, California, get their propulsion power from wave action and use solar power to provide energy for their electronics.

They will be deployed today and begin a months-long, ongoing research programme in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first application of this technology in the region.

‘These vehicles will provide us with a steady stream of data about water quality and should significantly increase the available data for ongoing research activity,’ said Mike Utsler, chief operating office of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. ‘We will initially deploy the Wave Gliders between the Macondo well and the shoreline and look to expand from there in the future.’

According to BP, the technology allows the long-term deployment of sensors to monitor key environmental variables including the detection of any emulsified, dissolved and dispersed oil in water, phytoplankton (chlorophyll) and coloured and dissolved oxygen matter.