An Italian company has created an underwater drone that lives on the ocean floor for 12 consecutive months without returning to the surface, and the embedded artificial intelligence allows it to inspect and repair oil pipelines on its own.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 13/04/2026 at 06:22

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The Hydrone-R from Saipem is the world’s first resident underwater drone, capable of remaining submerged for 12 months using AI for inspections and repairs on oil pipelines at depths of up to 3,000 meters in Equinor’s Njord field in the Norwegian Sea

At the icy bottom of the Norwegian Sea, about 300 meters deep, an underwater drone from the Italian company Saipem works day and night without ever returning to the surface. The Hydrone-R is the world’s first Underwater Intervention Drone (UID) designed to stay submerged for up to 12 consecutive months. In this way, it inspects, monitors, and even repairs underwater oil equipment using artificial intelligence, without needing a support vessel or human operator on site.

Since 2023, the underwater drone has been operating exclusively in Equinor’s Njord field and has already accumulated over 500 days of subsea residency, with a world record of 240 continuous days on the seabed. Therefore, while traditional ROVs rely on vessels that cost tens of thousands of dollars per day, the Hydrone-R works alone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

An underwater drone that sees, decides, and repairs itself at 3,000 meters

Submarine coupling station for the Hydrone-R underwater drone

The Hydrone-R operates at depths of up to 3,000 meters and has a range of 300 meters in ROV mode or over 20 km in autonomous AUV mode. Additionally, the system has 12 kW of power, compatible with electric and hydraulic tools for valve manipulation and emergency interventions.

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10-year contract with Equinor changed the offshore maintenance paradigm

Offshore platform with underwater drone being launched into the ocean

In October 2019, Equinor selected the Hydrone-R for the Njord-A field, establishing the first global 10-year contract for services with underwater drones in the offshore energy sector. Thus, the decision represented a long-term bet on resident technology, eliminating the dependence on support vessels for routine inspections.

At the end of 2025, with 12.5-meter waves, the Hydrone-R enabled the commissioning of a well in Njord while traditional ROVs simply could not operate. Therefore, the underwater drone proved that it can work in extreme conditions that paralyze conventional systems. The technology won the Spotlight on New Technology at OTC 2021.

The future of underwater drones and what still needs to be resolved

Robotic arm of an underwater drone manipulating a subsea valve

The Hydrone-R does not replace heavy-duty ROVs but complements the fleet with unprecedented resident capability. However, the system still relies on remote communications and has limited range in ROV mode. Additionally, Saipem is negotiating the potential sale of Sonsub, the division that developed the Hydrone, to Fincantieri, which may affect the future of the program.

Still, the concept of a resident underwater drone is paving the way for a new era in offshore maintenance, where robots permanently reside on the seabed and humans supervise from solid ground. The trend of oil companies investing billions in technology reinforces that this is a one-way path for the global industry.

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An Italian company has created an underwater drone that lives on the ocean floor for 12 consecutive months without returning to the surface, and the embedded artificial intelligence allows it to inspect and repair oil pipelines on its own.

The Hydrone-R from Saipem is the world’s first resident underwater drone, capable of remaining submerged for 12 months using AI for inspections and repairs on oil pipelines at depths of up to 3,000 meters in Equinor’s Njord field in the Norwegian Sea

An underwater drone that sees, decides, and repairs itself at 3,000 meters

10-year contract with Equinor changed the offshore maintenance paradigm

The future of underwater drones and what still needs to be resolved

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An Italian company has created an underwater drone that lives on the ocean floor for 12 consecutive months without returning to the surface, and the embedded artificial intelligence allows it to inspect and repair oil pipelines on its own.

The Hydrone-R from Saipem is the world’s first resident underwater drone, capable of remaining submerged for 12 months using AI for inspections and repairs on oil pipelines at depths of up to 3,000 meters in Equinor’s Njord field in the Norwegian Sea

An underwater drone that sees, decides, and repairs itself at 3,000 meters

10-year contract with Equinor changed the offshore maintenance paradigm

The future of underwater drones and what still needs to be resolved

Scientists enter a narrow, flooded cave 500 meters deep and find giant dinosaur footprints on the ceiling measuring up to 1.25 meters, preserved in such a rare way that a new type of trace had to be created.

In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

A giant half-ton ring fell in Kenya from space, and more than a year later, scientists still do not know where it came from.

After two years of internal discussions, Paraguay has finally regulated the law that opens the country to foreign technology and service companies with tax incentives that promise to create thousands of jobs and change the economy.

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About 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland, with houses forming a continuous row and narrow agricultural strips emerging behind them, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

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