SINGAPORE-based Cyan Renewables, currently undertaking an agreed takeover of Perth’s MMA Offshore, has signed a MOU with US company Ocean Infinity to develop offshore wind services in the Asia Pacific.

The partnership will collaborate on the provision of offshore geophysical and geotechnical surveys as well as remotely operated vehicle (ROV) inspections and marine information and consultancy.

Ocean Infinity, known as one of the companies that mounted an unsuccessful Indian Ocean search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, specialises in ocean exploration and robotic and unscrewed vessels.

The two companies say that with Cyan Renewables’ extensive local networks across Asia, Ocean Infinity’s technology-enabled lean-crewed marine data services can be deployed to help facilitate the expansion of the offshore wind industry in the region.

Lee Keng Lin, CEO of Cyan Renewables, said the partnership will contribute to the development of offshore wind as well as zero-emission shipping in the region.

Following a three-week stay in Singapore, Ocean Infinity’s lean-crewed vessel Armada 7804 will begin its commercial projects in the Asia-Pacific region, serving as a platform for both geophysical and shallow geotechnical surveys. Ocean Infinity expects Armada 7804 will cater to site investigation needs for offshore renewable energy as well as oil and gas ventures.

In February this year Ocean Infinity announced that with support from the Tasmanian Government it would establish an Australian operations centre in Hobart.

David Field, Ocean Infinity’s ANZ MD said: “This new Operations Centre in Tasmania will give us a more established infrastructure to deliver hydrography services for the Government and of course also provide capacity to take on more work in this high growth region.

“Ocean Infinity has already demonstrated that the use of robotics can make for more sustainable operations in Australian waters. In a recent data project for the Government, our robotic vessels collected 58% of the total data but contributed just 4% of the total fuel co2 emissions.”