An Italian holiday may seem like a distant dream as 2020 lurches into the home stretch.

But when easy travel resumes, offshore industry tech-heads may want to put the city of Trieste on their lists.

Italian services giant Saipem — which has a base in the northern port city where it develops and tests offshore technologies — last week inaugurated a permanent exhibition inside the new headquarters of the Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico, a network of interactive science museums in the region.

The child-friendly installation dedicated to Saipem’s marine technologies fills a 75-metre space that “calls to mind a marine environment”, the company says.

On display are an early Saipem remotely operated vehicle along with exhibition spaces demonstrating Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy, a control room simulator for remote-controlled subsea drones and, in a nod to future energy, the company’s Hexafloat floating platform for turbines at offshore wind farms.

The museum is housed in Magazzino 26, a recently renovated former warehouse in Trieste’s historic Old Port area that dates to the late 19th century.

Saipem has had a base in the area since 2010 and recently installed a “subsea playground” in the port where its engineers put many of their marine technology projects through their paces.

Francesco Racheli, chief operating officer of Saipem’s E&C Offshore Division, said the exhibition provides an opportunity to “illustrate the scientific principles which allow us to overcome the significant technological challenges we encounter in our daily activities to harness the energy from remote places like the seabed.

"We trust that this initiative will help inspire younger generations to learn more about technical-scientific subjects and encourage the development of a culture focused on renewable energies and technologies, which will be fundamental in order to face future challenges.”

Field Development

Saipem goes interactive with new museum display