Viper Presents and Exhibits at World’s Largest Subsea Exhibition and Conference

March 1, 2022

Viper Innovations sponsored, exhibited, and presented at Global Underwater Hub’s Subsea Expo which took place between the 22nd and 24th February in Aberdeen. The event, which claims to be the world’s largest subsea exhibition and conference, welcomed 45+ conference speakers, 100+ exhibiting companies, and 4000+ visitors during the 3 days of the event.

The conference kicked off with a plenary meeting, the theme of which was ‘Oceans of Opportunity’. The panel speakers were ranged from influential industry figures, including Global Underwater Hub’s Chief Executive Neil Gordon, to a plea from the Royal Navy for innovative solutions to maintaining submarines out of dry dock.

A large number of high-calibre conference sessions and presentations took place concurrently over the 3 days of the event. These provided a great insight into the industry and its unique opportunities and difficulties. There were key messages for the future, with a clear focus on transitioning to alternative energy sources and social and economic responsibility. Cross-industry cooperation and sharing is key, and the need for more people and young talent is a global obstacle. Discussions around big data, innovation and minimal footprints hinted at an exciting and eye-opening next 50 years in the industry.

On day 2 (Wednesday 24th February), Viper Director Neil Douglas chaired a compelling session on ‘Opportunities for the Energy Transition’, along with presenting his own paper on ‘Copper Loss in Subsea Umbilicals – The Consequence of Insulation Resistance Failure’ during the ‘Subsea Integrity’ session.

A fantastic time was had by all at Wednesday evening’s Subsea Expo Awards ceremony. More than 400 attendees came together for an evening of celebration, entertainment, and a delicious three-course meal. A big thank you to our guests for joining us: Scott Thompson from Shell, Sola Adekunle from Cranium, Rod Farquhar from Bridge Petroleum, and Sigurd Moe from TechnipFMC.

Congratulations to all the award winners, particularly MAATS Tech Ltd who won the sought-after ‘Company of the Year’ award, which was sponsored by Viper and presented by Subsea Sales Manager James Carnegie.

It was fantastic to have the opportunity to once again attend an event in person, and to be able to meet existing customers, industry leaders, and also some new faces!

Viper Director Neil Douglas commented:

“Subsea Expo has historically always been Viper’s exhibition/conference of choice in the UK. Yet again, we came away very happy with the quality of visitors to the stand and also the excellent papers that were presented throughout the conference programme. The plenary and conference sessions focussed on the opportunities available to businesses in the blue economy. Indeed Neil Gordon, CEO of the Global Underwater Hub, said that by 2030 there would be a US$3 trillion global opportunity that the subsea industry could target – including adjacent sectors such as defence, aquaculture, and offshore renewables within the blue economy.

During the exhibition, Viper’s stand personnel had discussions with representatives from all of these adjacent sectors who were bringing sector specific problems that Viper’s hardware solutions could potentially address. In addition, we saw many existing customers from our traditional subsea oil and gas cable monitoring business and as a result a number of leads to follow-up on.

Viper were one of the sponsors at the Awards dinner, which proved to be a very enjoyable and well-run event.  It was great to get back to near normality for a change with face-to-face discussions and a buzz of opportunity for the future”