Cellula Divests its Seafloor Drill Division

Cellula Robotics Ltd. is pleased to announce the acquisition of its Seafloor Drill Division by a confidential client.

The sale, completed on September 2, 2022 will facilitate Cellula's focus on development of proven, trusted autonomy as it brings its industry leading fuel cell powered, long range AUVs, Solus-LR and -XR to market. The investment will also support the ongoing development of Imotus-S, Cellula's latest AUV innovation for vessel signature measurement.

"We are thrilled to complete this milestone in Cellula's history" said Eric Jackson, President at Cellula, "with our recent focus on AUVs, the opportunity presented itself at a key time. We look forward to pivoting our efforts on AUV development and innovation."

Previous seafloor drill projects under the Cellula brand included ROVDrill & ROVDrill MkII for Canyon Offshore, subsystems for the Forum M80 and BGS RD2. Cellula's most recent drill developments were the CRD100 drills supplied to Fukada and JAMSTEC in Japan. Cellula will continue to support our valued CRD100 clients around the world.

Cellula Completes CRD100 Seafloor Drill Maintenance and Upgrade Program

Cellula Robotics Ltd. has successfully completed the mid-life maintenance and upgrade to Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd. (Fukada)’s Unicorn-1 Seafloor Drill, based on Cellula’s CRD100 Seafloor Drill. The upgrades, including improvements for increased automation and a new user interface, incorporates many lessons learnt from the last six years of offshore work, resulting in greater operational efficiency, functionality and lifespan of the drill.  

The drill arrived at Cellula in January 2022 with Factory Acceptance Testing completed May 2022. Unicorn-1 is scheduled to arrive in June 2022 to Fukada in Osaka, Japan to support their next project.

Cellula has continued to support Fukada and the CRD100 since delivery in 2014. Previous upgrades have included a high-definition camera package for landing and bore-hole monitoring and a Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT) system complete with outrigger legs.

Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, Japan is involved in marine salvage, steel structure installation, offshore engineering, and other infrastructural improvement projects. FSM is currently introducing deep-sea research equipment and other cutting-edge assets to a fleet of six offshore support vessels to aggressively tackle ocean development projects. For more information, please visit the FSM website.

Cellula Awarded Contract for CRD100 SCPT Tool Upgrade

Cellula Robotics is pleased to announce a new contract with Fukada Salvage & Marine Works Co., Ltd. (Fukada) for the development of a Seismic Cone Penetrometer Test (SCPT) tool for their CRD100 Seafloor Drill: Unicorn-1. This work coincides with the ongoing mid-life maintenance and upgrade for the drill.

The wireless tool will be the first of its kind to provide near real-time access to seismic data while the drill is on the seabed. Both P and S waves will be captured through a combination of pseudo and real-time measurements.  This is an upgrade to the wireless CPT tool previously supplied by Cellula for the drill.

The CRD100 is a fourth-generation seafloor drill designed to operate in waters down to 3000m depth for geotechnical surveys, mineral exploration, and methane gas hydrates sampling. Cellula has continued to support Fukada and the CRD100 since delivery in 2014.

Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd. (FSM), headquartered in Osaka, Japan is involved in marine salvage, steel structure installation, offshore engineering, and other infrastructural improvement projects. FSM is currently introducing deep-sea research equipment and other cutting-edge assets to a fleet of six offshore support vessels to aggressively tackle ocean development projects. For more information, please visit the FSM website.

Cellula Awarded Contract for CRD100 Seafloor Drill Maintenance and Upgrade Program

Cellula Robotics is pleased to announce a new contract with Fukada Salvage & Marine Works Co., Ltd. (Fukada) for mid-life maintenance and upgrade of their CRD100 Seafloor Drill. The drill and supporting equipment arrived at the Cellula facility in Burnaby, BC in January 2022.

The maintenance and upgrade program will improve operational efficiency, functionality and lifespan of the drill and incorporates many lessons learnt from the last six years of offshore work. Upgrades include a new user interface and increased automation.

The CRD100 is a fourth-generation seafloor drill designed to operate in waters down to 3000m depth for geotechnical surveys, mineral exploration, and methane gas hydrates sampling. Cellula has continued to support Fukada and the CRD100 since delivery in 2014. Previous upgrades have included a high-definition camera package for landing and bore-hole monitoring and a Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT) system complete with outrigger legs.

Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd. (FSM), headquartered in Osaka, Japan is involved in marine salvage, steel structure installation, offshore engineering, and other infrastructural improvement projects. FSM is currently introducing deep-sea research equipment and other cutting-edge assets to a fleet of six offshore support vessels to aggressively tackle ocean development projects. For more information, please visit the FSM website.

Successful Completion of JAMSTEC High Flow Water Pump & Large Diameter Drilling Tools

Cellula Robotics has successfully completed and delivered a high flow water pump and additional drilling tools for JAMSTEC’s large diameter drilling operations.

This equipment was designed to support their Boring Machine System, delivered in 2016 and based on Cellula’s CRD100 seafloor drill.  Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Cellula is also providing remote installation support.

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) is an independent administrative institution whose main objective is to contribute to the advancement of academic research in addition to the improvement of marine science and technology. For more information, please visit the JAMSTEC website.

Successful Large Diamater Drilling Upgrade for JAMSTEC CRD100 Seafloor Drill

Cellula Robotics Ltd. has successfully completed the design and delivery of a large diameter drilling upgrade to JAMSTEC’s Boring Machine System (BMS), based on Cellula’s CRD100 Seafloor Drill.

The upgrade enables a 200 mm diameter bore hole to be drilled to at least 20 meters below mudline in water depths down to 3000 meters. Sensor packages up to 160 mm in diameter and 1200 mm in length then then deployed.

The original BMS was delivered to JAMSTEC in 2016; since then, Cellula has remained committed to supporting our client’s evolving needs. All products are produced under our ISO 9001 Quality Management System, and leverage Cellula’s extensive experience with manufacturing remotely operated subsea equipment and seafloor geotechnical drills.

Cellula Awarded Contract for CRD100 Large Diameter Drilling Upgrade

Cellula Robotics has been awarded a contract with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) through Fukada Salvage and Marine Co Ltd, for the design and delivery of a large diameter drilling upgrade to the Boring Machine System (based on Cellula’s CRD100 Seafloor Drill) delivered in 2016.  This project will enable a 200mm diameter bore hole to be drilled to at least 20 meters below mudline.

All equipment will be supplied in 2019 and integrated for a demonstration mission in February 2020.

Cellula Awarded Contract for CRD100 HD Camera Upgrade

Cellula has been awarded a contract from Fukada Salvage & Marine Works Co., Ltd. to design and build a High Definition (HD) Camera Upgrade for the CRD100 Seafloor Drill delivered in 2014, known as Unicorn-1. The upgrade includes a new HD camera, pan/tilt unit, multiple lights, a control canister and a deployable camera mount. The HD camera upgrade will provide improved imaging for landing and borehole monitoring during drilling.

The upgrade package will be delivered in August 2019 and installed on Unicorn-1 by Cellula engineers in Japan ahead of a multi-month drilling campaign.

Successful CRD100 Coring Program

Cellula Robotics Ltd. is please to that announce that Subsea Geo Services Inc. (SGSI) and Fukada Salvage and Marine Works (Fukada) completed another successful coring program with a Cellula CRD100 seafloor drill, known as Unicorn-1.  The coring program was in 1,400m of seawater with wave heights of up to four meters off the coast of Japan. The program focused on recovering Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS) samples to help better understand the geology of the region.

Cores were taken at five locations with sample depths ranging from 9m to 63m. The geology of the region is highly varied ranging from silts and clay to soft volcanic ash, quartz and rock. This variation has historically resulted in poor core recovery on previous drilling programs. However, the Unicorn-1 system provided excellent cores particularly in the SMS segment, averaging over 80% recovery.

Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd. (FSM), headquartered in Osaka, Japan is involved in marine salvage, steel structure installation, offshore engineering, and other infrastructural improvement projects. FSM is currently introducing deep-sea research equipment and other cutting-edge assets to a fleet of six offshore support vessels to aggressively tackle ocean development projects. For more information, please visit the FSM website: http://www.fukasal.co.jp/en/

Subsea Geo Services Inc. (SGSI) is a leading geotechnical system operator focusing on CPTu and drilling and coring operations with the CRD100/Unicorn-1 seafloor in co-operation with FSM. The Unicorn-1 system is a highly capable seafloor drilling platform suitable for operation to 3,000m of seawater and the ability to operate safely in highly variable weather conditions due to its purpose-built A-frame and heave compensated winch. For more information, please visit SGSI’s website at: www.subseageoservices.com

Cellula Completes Seismometer Study and Model

Cellula Robotics Ltd. has completed a study of possible methods for deploying JAMSTEC’s Ocean Bottom Seismometers into the seabed. As part of that study, Cellula delivered a 1:5 scale model of the selected concept design as a visual tool to simulate the installation process. Further development of this concept design will ultimately lead to the production of a deployment tool that will be used with JAMSTEC’s CRD100 Seafloor Drill for deploying seismometers off the coast of Japan.