Armada has partnered with offshore-focused communications firm Tampnet to provide Edge compute to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
Tampnet and Armada have announced a partnership aiming to offer on-rig processing and onshore compute. The companies will offer on-shore hubs via Armada’s Galleons located on land, connected to multiple offshore rigs via private 5G or Tampnet-operated fiber.
As part of the partnership, Armada has delivered one of its containerized data center modules to a Tampnet cable landing station in Freeport, Texas.
Smaller racks of Armada's compute infrastructure will also be deployed on offshore rigs, allowing real-time AI applications to run locally.
"Armada's full-stack compute platform is designed for exactly this challenge - delivering AI-powered insights directly where they're needed while minimizing infrastructure requirements on platforms, rigs, and vessels," said Elie Hanna, CEO at Tampnet. "Our spoke-and-hub architecture will be a game-changer for energy operations. With this partnership, Tampnet adds an AI-powered platform to its network architecture accelerating digitization for our customers."
Armada emerged from stealth in late 2023. The startup is targeting remote and off-grid applications such as defense and mining.
The California-based company offers ruggedized and self-contained satellite-connected data center modules (in three-rack 20ft and six-rack 40ft models) known as Galleons that use SpaceX’s Starlink network, and an Edge device and computing management platform. It also offers Edge/AI applications.
"Armada is built to bring real-world AI to the most challenging environments," said Dan Wright, founder and CEO at Armada. "By combining our compute with Tampnet's industry-leading offshore network, we're creating a powerful platform that allows offshore energy companies to harness the full potential to their data - whether that's real-time AI on the rig or large-scale insights across multiple platforms."
On-rig compute use cases include safety monitoring, anomaly detection, and operational automation.
The companies said that AI applications that require real-time, continuous processing will be able to run directly on the rig, while more compute-intensive applications that analyze data across multiple rigs or require additional power can be offloaded to the Galleon on land.
The companies will also co-develop new AI applications specifically designed for offshore energy operations.
According to an Armada post on LinkedIn this week, Tampnet's first Galleon has arrived at its site in the Gulf of Mexico (now known in the US as the Gulf of America) in Freeport, Texas.
“We are basically putting live a Galleon at a landing station for fiber,” said Frode Støldal, CDO and president, Tampnet America. “This compute will be distributed over a fiber network and be enabled for all the hundreds of oil platforms that we serve in the Gulf.”
Founded in 2001, Tampnet operates offshore communication networks in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, and other locations. It also installs and operates offshore 4G and 5G networks. Its network includes more than 5,400km of subsea fiber, 600,000 square km of 4G/5G coverage, and more than 200 fully managed microwave links. The company, founded by Statoil from the bankruptcy of Enitel, has been owned by 3i Infrastructure and ATP since 2019.
Tampnet this week announced it was to provide connectivity and services for the Trion Project in Mexican waters within the Gulf of Mexico, adding a further 200km to the company’s network in the region.
Armada previously had a proof-of-concept trial with mining company Nexa Resources and last year signed a deal with Middle Eastern data center engineering consulting and cloud services firm Edarat Group to deploy ten Galleons across the Gulf and Middle East.
The company recently signed a deal to deploy two pods at sites operated by startup venture platform Newlab in Detroit, Michigan, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is also deploying an unspecified number of pods in Saudi for oil giant Aramco. Armada has also delivered a module to the US Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Armada has raised more than $100 million to date. Investors in the company include Microsoft, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, Felicis, Contrary, Valor Equity Partners, Marlinspike, 137 Ventures, Koch Real Estate Investments, and 8VC.
