General Robotics Limited (GRL) has proudly opened a new subsea remotely operated vehicles (ROV) training and assessment centre in Aberdeen.

The company reports that it can be extremely difficult to provide the requisite training for both pilots and technicians before they head offshore to serve the oil and gas industry.

But after working with industry veterans, GRL has developed new simulation software to provide cadets with a grounding in the use of navigational aids, tether management, flight manoeuvres, in addition to expanding core competences such as spatial awareness and time keeping.

"Simulator based training is becoming more and more a part of pilots' lives, whether they are newcomers learning the ropes from scratch or veteran pilots familiarising themselves with their next offshore mission," said Miller Crockart, head of business development at GRL.

GRL was founded in 1988 to serve the UK defence sector. In the 1990s, the company made a move into the commercial offshore oil and gas industry where it won a number of lucrative early contracts with Sonsub, Fugro, DeepOcean, WesternGeco and others.

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