NEWLY-listed integrated oil & gas services and equipment (OGSE) solutions provider Elsa Bhd has accepted letters of award from a major exploration and production outfit to provide autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) subsea structure inspection services covering both East and West Malaysia.
The contract sealed by the group’s wholly-owned subsidiary Elsa Energy Sdn Bhd carries a firm order value to commence AUV inspection in 3Q 2026 in addition to providing avenues for future work order issuance throughout the tenure.
The firm contract period commences on June 19 till June 18 June, 2027 with a provision for an additional one-year extension option.
Under the scope of work, Elsa Energy will deploy AUV systems to conduct autonomous underwater inspections for offshore platform structures.
The operational mandate encompasses the provision of AUV systems, platform-deployed underwater inspection, comprehensive data collection and data analysis.
The AUV technology approach is designed to efficiently inspect vertical platform structures which is different from previous contracts Elsa has secured to inspect horizontal pipeline assets using a different AUV technology.
With proven track records on AUV inspection for both vertical and horizontal assets, Elsa is now able to provide a comprehensive, fully integrated subsea assets inspection solution.
“This award is significant for Elsa because of what it represents for our robotics and autonomous inspection business positioning,” commented Elsa’s managing director Daniel Ilham Khong.
“We believe this is a first-of-its-kind AUV deployment for subsea structure inspection involving vertical offshore platform structures in Malaysia.”
Unlike pipeline inspection, this application requires a distinctly different category of autonomous technology to navigate complex vertical architecture, according to Khong.
“The contract reflects the accelerating adoption of autonomous underwater inspection technology within Malaysia’s offshore oil and gas industry,” he enthused.
“For Elsa, it validates our strategic direction in strengthening our Robotics and Engineering Solutions segment as a core pillar of our technology-integrated OGSE platform.”
The AUV contract aligns closely with Elsa’s post-listing growth trajectory which prioritises robotics-enabled inspection, drone-based applications and advanced asset integrity solutions.
The group further noted that the long-term addressable market for autonomous inspection technology is highly scalable.
There are over 12,000km of pipelines and over 400 offshore platforms operating in Malaysian waters, all of which require periodic structural integrity inspections to ensure operational safety and production reliability.
At the close of today’s (July 3) mid-day trading, Elsa was up 0.5 sen or 2.22% to 23 sen with 650,300 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM124 mil. – July 3, 2026
