TRIESTE: HI-TECH HUB AGAINST PETROLEUM DISASTERS

In the Trieste Port area, Saipem-Sonsub, one of the most important company in the sector of construction and maintenance of infrastructures serving the oil & gas industry, has established a plant aimed at assembling and installing high-tech underwater robotics to prevent and reduce the risk of petroleum disasters.

It is an important operation, which has assigned to the Port of Trieste the role of the international hub for emergency operations for the whole planet, the playground where the technologically advanced submarine equipment will be tested.

Trieste has been chosen for different reasons: for the optimal characteristics and for the logistics, due to a quay characterized by important depths and clear water, where large boats can dock therefore it is possible to do the tests; for the presence in this area of an adequate supply chain and especially for the opportunity to operate under a Free Custom Zones. 

The submarine robots have been previously built and assembled in Houston: now this activity will be developed in Trieste.

The first turning point that made Trieste a worldwide base was the “Offset Installation System” (OIS), a giant yellow equipment characterized by a huge cap able to close, from one kilometre away, an underwater oil well to which all the safety valves have been blown, preventing the escape of oil and gas in the open sea.