March 15, 2022 By Peter Judge
译 者 说
随着大数据、人工智能的发展，人类对数据、算法、算力的需求将迎来爆炸式增长。作为这一切的载体，数据中心建设已经迎来春天。而海量数据中心必然带来包括土地、能源在内的需求。水下数据中心，不失为一个值得期待的发展方向，同时也是一个新的挑战。本文就目前水下数据中心的探索情况进行了介绍，以期起到抛砖引玉的作用。
数据中心建造是一项专业工作，建设方已经开发出特定的方法来实施。如果你突然不得不在水下建设一个数据中心，你会怎么做呢？
Data center construction is a specialized task, and builders have evolved particular ways to handle it. But what would you do if you suddenly had to build a data center underwater?
这是个严肃的问题。美国和中国的测试表明，在海床上安装的压力容器可以提供数据中心服务，并且在可靠性和效率方面更有好处。商业推广已经展开，工程师们也在处理实际问题。
It’s a serious question. Tests in the US and China have shown that pressure vessels on the sea bed could deliver data center services - and provide benefits in terms of reliability and efficiency. Commercial roll out has begun, and engineers are working on the practical issues.
微软Natick项目
Launching Microsoft’s Natick
这一切都始于微软的Natick项目，该项目在2015年启动，在美国太平洋海岸水下30英尺（9米）深的一个8英尺（2.4米）的圆柱体中为公有云Azure提供工作负载。2018年，微软进一步在苏格兰Orkney群岛117英尺水下一个12米长的容器中，安装了12个机架的服务器，该容器运行了两年。
It all started with Project Natick, a Microsoft project which served some Azure workloads from an eight-foot (2.4m) cylinder, 30ft (9m) underwater off the Pacific coast of the US in 2015. Microsoft followed up in 2018 with 12 racks of servers in a container 12m long, which ran for two years in 117 feet of water in Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
第二阶段在苏格兰的实验，专注于“研究该理念是否在后勤、环境和经济性上实用”，因此采取了几个步骤来接近实际的商业建筑模型。
Phase 2, the Scottish experiment, was focused on “researching whether the concept is logistically, environmentally and economically practical,” so it took several steps which approached towards an actual commercial construction model.
微软将建造过程分包给有400年历史的法国海洋工程公司Naval Group，该公司在海军潜艇和民用核电领域拥有丰富经验。
Microsoft subcontracted the build process to Naval Group, a 400-year-old French marine engineering company, with experience in naval submarines and civil nuclear power.
微软团队向Naval Group介绍了水下数据中心的通用规范，并让其主持设计和建造这个在苏格兰部署的容器。项目内容包括与其他系统接口的创建，例如脐带电缆、以及实际系统交付。
The Microsoft team presented Naval Group with general specifications for the underwater data center and let the company take the lead on the design and manufacture of the vessel deployed in Scotland. This included the creation of interfaces to other systems such as its umbilical cable, and the delivery of the actual system.
“乍一看，我们以为数据中心和潜艇有很大差别，但实际上他们有很多协同效应”，Naval 首席技术官Eric Papin当时评论道。
“At the first look, we thought there is a big gap between data centers and submarines, but in fact they have a lot of synergies,” commented Naval CTO Eric Papin at the time.
潜艇基本上是一个必须保护复杂系统并维持正确的电力和温度条件的大型压力容器。
Submarines are basically big pressure vessels that have to protect complex systems, maintaining the right electrical and thermal conditions.
Naval集团使用了一种已经用于潜艇冷却的热交换工艺。利用海水从12个服务器机架背部的散热器输送回海洋。
Naval Group used a heat-exchange process already in use for cooling submarines. It pipes seawater through radiators on the back of each of the 12 server racks and back out into the ocean.
Natick第二阶段规模的选择是为了使得商业部署更加简单。和许多陆基数据中心一样，Natick容器的设计规格和船舶、火车及卡车用集装箱类似。
The size of Natick Phase 2 was chosen to make an easy journey towards commercial deployment. Like many land-based data centers, the Natick vessel was designed to have similar dimensions to shipping containers used in ships, trains, and trucks.
该数据中心在法国用螺栓栓紧并进行了测试，之后被装载到一辆18个轮子的铰接式卡车并驶往奥克尼群岛的多个渡口。在苏格兰，该容器被固定在装满压载物的三角形底座上，以使其保持在海床上。
The data center was bolted shut and tested in France, then loaded onto an 18-wheel articulated truck and driven to the Orkney Islands, including multiple ferry crossings. In Scotland, the vessel was fixed to the ballast-filled triangular base which would keep it on the sea bed.
之后，一艘龙门吊驳船将数据中心拖到海上的最终部署地点。
A gantry barge then took the data center, and was towed out to sea to the eventual deployment site.
微软称该实验是成功的。特别是，其Natick服务器故障率比陆基数据中心低八倍，因为舱内设备沉浸在氮气环境中，不被任何工程师打扰（进入）。
Microsoft said the experiment was a success. In particular, it found that its Natick servers failed eight times less often than land-based ones, because they were immersed in a nitrogen atmosphere and weren’t disturbed by any engineers.
Natick第三阶段做什么？
What happened to Natick Phase 3?
在宣布Natick第二阶段取得成功后，观察家预测微软将直接向更加商业化的部署前进。确实，该公司立即为巨型“礁石”容器的想法申请了专利，事情看起来非常有趣。
After claiming success for Natick Phase 2, observers expected Microsoft to move straight on to a more commercialized deployment Indeed, the company promptly patented the idea for a giant “reef” of containers holding servers, and things looked interesting.
一张“Azure Natick Gen 3.12”的图片浮出水面，显示容量发生了阶跃变化。该设计展示了一个300米长的钢质框架，载有12个与第二阶段类似的数据中心圆柱体。整个结构规划5MW，与其可承载144个服务器机架的低功率密度一致。
One image of “Azure Natick Gen 3.12” has surfaced, suggesting a step-change in capacity. The design shows a 300m long steel frame, holding 12 data center cylinders similar to that from Phase 2. A figure of 5MW for the total structure has been suggested - and that’s in line with a pretty low power density for the 144 racks it could hold.
如果这还不够雄心勃勃。微软已建议它可以将多个5MW模块组合以构建水下的Azure可用区。
If that’s not ambitious enough. Microsoft has suggested it could group multiple 5MW modules together to create underwater Azure availability zones.
正如您对一个项目从测试到部署的期待一样，该项目有新的实用方面设计。每个框架都有两个可以充满空气的长罐体，因此该单元可以在没有支撑容器的情况下漂浮到指定位置。
As you’d expect from a project transitioning from test to development, there are new practical aspects to the design. Each frame has two long ballast tanks which can be filled with air, so the unit can be floated into position without support vessels.
到达现场后，罐体可以注满水以使其沉入海床。
Once on site, the tanks can be filled with water to sink it to the sea bed.
除了这些细节，微软对第三阶段Natick三缄其口，并拒绝了DCD对此详细阐述的邀请。
Despite these details, Microsoft has said very little about any third generation of Natick, and declined DCD’s invitation to elaborate.
但是，马里兰大学系统工程专业的学生被邀请分析水下数据中心从需求、运营到退役的可能生命周期。
But Systems Engineering students at the University of Maryland were asked to analyze the likely lifecycle of an underwater data center from need, through operations, to retirement.
一篇发表在Medium上的结论分析文章说：“一个Natick数据中心部署周期将长达五年，这是深水服务器中的计算机的预期寿命。在每个五年部署周期之后，数据中心将被重新回收、装载新的计算机、再重新部署。一个Natick数据中心的目标寿命至少是20年。在那之后，数据中心被设计成可以回收利用和重新部署。”
One resulting essay, published on Medium said: “A Natick data center deployment cycle will last up to five years, which is the anticipated lifespan of the computers contained within the deep-water servers. After each five-year deployment cycle, the data center would be retrieved, reloaded with new computers, and redeployed. The target lifespan of a Natick data center is at least 20 years. After that, the data center is designed to be retrieved, recycled, and redeployed.”
虽然微软对于任何将其水下数据中心商业化的计划都守口如瓶，但它在低碳公约中提及了Natick的一些想法，该公约承诺免费提供大量旨在使数据中心更具有可持续性的专利。
While Microsoft is keeping tight-lipped about any plans to commercialize its ideas for underwater data centers, it did include some Natick ideas in the Low Carbon Pledge, a promise to give free access to a raft of patents designed to make data centers more sustainable.
中国的实践
Over to China
与此同时，水下数据中心的另一个竞赛队伍来自中国。一家名叫北京海兰信的公司于2021年初在广东某港口发布了一个“四机架测试容器”，并在当年年底在服务器上运行中国电信的实时数据。
Meanwhile, the next move in the underwater data center race came from China. A company called Beijing Highlander launched a four-rack test vessel at the port of Guangdong in early 2021, and ran live China Telecom data on the servers later that year.
同年，海兰信迅速跟进一个在海南自由贸易港进行的更大测试，并发布了其将由100个数据仓组成的世界上首个商业化水下数据中心，其在海床上联网并通过动力和数据电缆连接到陆地，动力来自海南核电站提供的低碳电力。
That same year, Highlander quickly followed up with a bigger test at the Hainan Free Trade Port, and announced the world’s first commercial underwater data center would be constructed from 100 of its data cabins, networked on the sea bed, connected to land by power-and-data cables, and powered by low-carbon electricity from Hainan’s nuclear power station.
中国沿海地区正在接受水下数据中心的理念。这一理念已包含在中国多个地区的五年经济计划中，包括海南省和山东省，以及厦门、深圳等沿海城市。
Coastal regions of China are adopting the idea of underwater data centers. The concept is included in the five-year economic plans of several Chinese regional authorities, including the provinces of Hainan and Shandong, as well as the coastal cities of Xiamen and Shenzhen.
2022年1月，海南签署了交付数据中心的合同。和微软一样，海兰信引入了一家具有更多海洋工程经验的合作伙伴来进行最终数据中心的实际建造。
In Hainan, contracts were signed to deliver the data center in January 2022. Like Microsoft, Highlander engaged a more experienced marine engineering partner to handle the actual construction of the eventual data center.
顾名思义，海洋石油工程股份有限公司（COOEC）是一家在石油行业拥有历史的海洋工程公司。它在一份新闻稿中宣布了与海兰信的合作关系，明确表示公司将数据中心项目视作从石油行业转向低碳战略的一部分。
As its name suggests, Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC) is a marine firm with a history in the oil industry. It announced its partnership with Highlander in a release that makes it clear it sees the data center project as part of a move from the oil industry to a low-carbon strategy.
COOEC表示，海南数据中心项目将使其“从传统的海上油气工程产品扩展到新的海上业务”。除此之外，它表示热衷于进入海上风电等绿色海洋工程行业。
COOEC says the Hainan data center project will allow it to "expand from traditional offshore oil and gas engineering products to new offshore businesses." Other than that, it says it is keen to enter green marine engineering industries such as offshore wind power.
公司表示，它正在天津临港制造基地建造数据舱，并将部署在海南自由贸易港沿岸20米深的水域。
The company says it is working on data cabins at its Tianjin Lingang manufacturing site, to be deployed in 20m deep water off the coast of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
公告称，这些数据仓将重达 1300 吨（相当于约1000辆汽车），并通过直径为3.6米的“胎带”罐与陆地相连。COOEC表示，这将成为世界上最大的潜水数据舱——据DCD所知，随着Natick第二阶段的退役，它将成为除了较小的海兰信测试容器之外唯一的潜水数据舱。
The announcement says the cabins will weigh 1,300 tons (the equivalent of around 1,000 cars), and be connected to land via a “placenta” tank with a diameter of 3.6 meters. COOEC says this will make it the world's largest submarine data cabin - though as far as we know at DCD, with the retirement of Natick Phase 2, it will be more or less the only submarine data cabin besides the smaller Highlander test vessel.
关于COOEC和海兰信为解决可批量建造的水下数据中心的工程解决方案所做的努力的细节正在浮出水面。
Details are emerging about the efforts COOEC and Highlander are making to deliver an engineering solution to the problem of underwater data centers, which can be constructed in volume.
COOEC表示，这些数据仓将是“创新的海洋设备”，并且需要能够承受海水压力。该系统还需要耐腐蚀。
COOEC says the cabins will be “innovative marine equipment,” and will have to be constructed to withstand the sea pressure. The system will also have to resist corrosion.
数据仓将容纳精密电子设备，并且需要大量的连接口供管道和电缆通过。所有这些都需要耐高压、抗腐蚀的密封件。
The cabin will hold sophisticated electronics, and will need a large number of openings for pipelines and cables to pass through. All of these will need high-pressure, non-corroding seals.
COOEC表示，“从方案研究、工程设计、施工到测试，都面临巨大的技术挑战。”
“From scheme research, engineering design, construction to testing, there are very big technical challenges,” COOEC says.
在一个小细节中，COOEC表示，外部循环管道将是可回收的。
In one small additional detail, COOEC says the external circulation pipework will be recyclable.
COOEC将负责容器设计、材料采购、建造和测试。它还将管理模块的陆上和船舶运输，将他们带动最终的工作环境。
COOEC will handle the design of the vessels, procurement of materials, manufacturing, and testing. It will also manage the land transportation of the modules and ships to take them to their eventual working environment.
海兰信表示该系统不会消耗水资源，并且将使用更少的能源。
Highlander says the system will consume no water, and will use less energy.
尽管数据仓使用了大量钢材，这两家公司表示，水下设施的建造成本将低于陆基数据中心，并且（足够明显）将节省土地的使用。
Despite the amount of steel involved in the cabins, the two companies say the underwater facility will have a lower construction cost than a land-based one and (obviously enough) will save on the use of land.
和微软一样，海兰信也高度强调水下服务器的可靠性。特别是，“它是一种有效节约能源资源、集科技、大数据、低碳、绿色于一体的新型海洋工程，对推动数据产业绿色发展具有深远意义”，COOEC与海兰信在他们的新闻稿中说。
Like Microsoft, Highlander praised the reliability of underwater servers. In particular, "It is a new type of marine engineering that effectively saves energy and resources and integrates technology, big data, low carbon, and green, and has far-reaching significance for promoting the green development of the data industry," COOEC and Highlander say in their press release.
让我们潜的更深！
Let’s go deeper!
虽然海兰信在实际部署水下数据中心方面处于领跑位置，但一家来自美国的竞争者公司在2022年初承诺将刷新深度记录-至少在原则上做到了。
While Highlander is the front-runner in actually deploying underwater data centers, a rival US firm is promising to set a depth record - at least in principle - for a concept announced early in 2022.
微软和海兰信没有提过要超过120米（400英尺）深，但位于得克萨斯州的Subsea Cloud表示它将下得更深，达到3000米（9850英尺）。
Microsoft and Highlander have not spoken of going any deeper than 120m (400ft), but Texas-based Subsea Cloud claims it will go way deeper, to 3,000m (9,850ft).
Subsea表示，出于安全原因，它希望将其液冷水下数据中心吊舱（UDCPs）下放到这一深度，这样他们就不会收到潜水员和潜水器的干扰，因为他们无法下到这一深度。
Subsea says it wants to take its liquid-cooled underwater data center pods (UDCPs) to these depths for security reasons, so they will be safe from interference by divers and submersibles, which cannot reach those depths.
首席执行官Maxie Reynolds说：“潜水员无法 <触及这些吊舱>。需要一些非常具有颠覆性的设备才行。潜水艇无法做到这一点，它们的下潜深度不够。所以你需要一个远程遥控载具 (ROV)，而这些都是可追踪的。它在很多物理安全方面起到了作用。”
"You can’t
Reynolds拥有海洋工程和安全渗透测试方面的背景，并声称她的工程合作伙伴与海上技术公司Energy Subsea有联系，已经对吊舱进行压力测试，测试表明他们可以在水下3000米工作。
Reynolds has a background in marine engineering and security penetration testing, and claims her engineering partners, connected with offshore technology company Energy Subsea, have pressure-tested the pods to show they can work at 3,000m.
这里有一个很大的警告：Subsea没有太多地分享它的吊舱以及它们是如何测试的。尽管如此，这个提议给该领域的任何人都带来了有趣的挑战——并且表明这个新兴的想法仍然可能发生根本性的变化。
We’ve got a big caveat here: Subsea has not shared very much about its pods or how they were tested. Despite that, it’s a proposal that offers interesting challenges to anyone involved in the field - and suggests that this emerging idea could still change radically.
Reynolds表示，Subsea 公司正在研究的不是重型压力容器，而是简单、轻量级的吊舱，每个吊舱可容纳大约800台服务器，并且比微软或海兰信拥有“更简单和经过验证的设计”。
Instead of heavy-duty pressure vessels, Reynolds says Subsea is working on simple, lightweight pods which will each hold around 800 servers, and have a "far more simple and proven design” than Microsoft or Highlander.
尽管吊舱被设计用于在非常高的压力下运行，但她说它们“不使用压力容器（对我们来说是竞争优势）。”
Though the pods are designed to operate at very high pressure, she says they “don’t use pressure vessels (a competitive advantage for us).”
Subsea Cloud不需要压力容器因为它等价于一个方盒的压力
--Subsea Cloud
在海平面上，每平方英寸的表面受到14.6磅的力，这就是大气压。在水下，压力以每10m一个大气压迅速增加；因此，在3000米处，设计用于保持该压力的外壳必须承受300个大气压的超压。
At sea level, every square inch of a surface is subjected to a force of 14.6 pounds. This is atmospheric pressure. Under the sea, pressure increases rapidly at one atmosphere every 10m; so at 3,000m, a shell designed to keep that pressure out would have to withstand 300 atmospheres of excess pressure.
“海兰信和微软都选择使用压力容器。这种设计很重要，因为数据中心进入海洋越深，它们承受的压力就越大，” Reynolds说。“为了承受他们面临的压力，他们必须使数据中心的墙壁更厚。这会影响陆上物流和海底部署的许多要素。”
“Both Highlander and Microsoft have opted to use pressure vessels. This design matters because the deeper data centers go into the oceans, the more pressure they incur,” says Reynolds. “To withstand the pressure they incur, they must make the walls of the data centers thicker. This affects many elements of the logistics on land and the deployment subsea.”
如果你不尝试在陆地上重建条件，你可以让压力在容器内部平衡，并且你不再需要拥有如此坚固的物理结构。
If you don’t attempt to recreate conditions on land, you can allow the pressure to equalize, inside the vessel, and you no longer have to have such a physically strong structure.
Subsea 公司分享了一张其系统的照片——一个黄色的方形容器，看起来很坚固，但显然不是压力容器。盒子上的可见开口可能是为了平衡压力而设计的。电子设备必须能够在高压下工作，可能浸入某种油中。
Subsea has shared a photo of its system - a square yellow container that looks sturdy, but is clearly not a pressure vessel. Visible openings in the box are presumably designed to allow pressure to equalize. The electronics must be able to work at a high pressure, probably immersed in some sort of oil.
“作为海底工程师，我们设计的是多功能的同时保持其设计完整性。数据中心吊舱将在较浅的深度工作，就像它们在较深的深度工作一样。该设计可确保在任何深度，外壳内部的压力都等于外部压力——我们无需更改以适应不同的深度，因为我们不必这样做。”
“As subsea engineers, we've designed ours to be versatile whilst maintaining its design integrity. The data center pods will work in shallow depths just as they will at deeper depths. The design ensures that at any depth, the pressure inside the housing is equal to the pressure outside – we make no changes to accommodate different depths because we don't have to.”
总而言之，她说：“我们根据水下工程原理设计解决方案，而不是海底工程原理（广义上）。”
To sum up, she says: “We designed the solution based on subsea engineering principles, not on submarine engineering principles (broadly speaking).”
建造的发展
Construction developments
注意到模块化结构已经用于陆基集装箱数据中心，Reynolds预测水下装置可以跨越到新的预制水平：“这种类型的结构不会受到遗留制造问题和行业的阻碍，以及它所支持的企业需求的快速扩展。”
Noting that modular construction is already used in land-based containerized data centers, Reynolds predicts that underwater installations could leapfrog to new levels of prefabrication: “this type of construction isn’t held back by legacy manufacturing issues and the industry, as well as the businesses that it supports need to scale quickly.”
她还指出，模块化建造流程在海上已经得到了很好的确立：“从历史上看，模块化建造一直是海底的常态。东西必须分段制造，分段铺设。”
She also points out that modular construction processes are well established offshore: “Historically, modular construction has been the norm subsea. Things must be fabricated in sections and laid in sections.”
她告诉DCD，其他一些建设部分也更容易，因为海床还没有安装建筑物和其他基础设施。
Some of the other parts of construction are also easier, because the sea bed does not already have buildings and other infrastructure installed, she tells DCD.
“如果你考虑在陆地上铺设数据中心电缆的复杂性，那就是资源密集型和昂贵的（每英里可能花费数百万美元）。它面临着许多官僚流程和后勤方面的挑战，”她说。“在海底部署电缆需要几周时间，实际上成本更低。铺设海底电缆的成本仅为每英里50000美元。这是违反直觉的。”
“If you think of the complexities of laying cables to data centers on land, it is resource-intensive and expensive (it could cost millions per mile). It faces many bureaucratic and logistical challenges,” she says. “A cable deployed subsea takes a matter of weeks and actually costs less. Laying a cable subsea can cost as little as $50,000 per mile. It’s counterintuitive.”
如果水下数据中心达到批量生产，那将降低成本，她说：“大多数东西都是批量更便宜的。”
If underwater data centers ever reach bulk production, that will cut the costs, she says: “Most everything is cheaper in bulk.”
虽然Natick必须将一个模块从法国运送到苏格兰，然后租一艘船将其拖到海中，但未来的部署将计划更短的旅行，并大量部署。
While Natick had to ship one module from France to Scotland, and then charter a boat to tow it to sea, future deployments would plan for shorter travel, and deploy in larger numbers.
Reynolds说：“仅仅因为连接到现有基础设施需要一艘具有按天计费率的船只，大量部署会更加高效。你想一口气铺设尽可能多，一艘船通常可以运载80个单元，充分利用它的容量会更经济。”
“It will be more efficient to deploy in large numbers simply because connecting to existing infrastructure needs a vessel, which has a day rate,” says Reynolds. “You want to lay as many as you can in one go. A vessel can typically carry 80 units. It is more economical to use it to its full capacity.”
虽然Subsea的吊舱是为深海部署而设计的，但它们在浅水中也能正常运行，尽管为了安全起见，它们可能必须被掩埋，Reynolds说：“每个吊舱的规格对我们来说都不会改变，无论是深水还是浅水。变的是安装工程。”
While Subsea’s pods are designed for deep-sea deployment, they will operate just as well in shallow water, though they might have to be buried for security, says Reynolds: “The specs of each pod will not change for us, deep or shallow. Installation engineering will change.”
例如，在深水中，必须使用推进器工具将吊舱操纵到位，而在浅水中则不需要。
For instance, in deep water, the pods will have to be maneuvered into place using a thruster tool, while that won’t be needed in shallow water.
如果水下吊舱的高度集中，将有可能在附近部署一艘维修船。小型轻型吊舱可以快速拉到水面进行工作。
With large concentrations of underwater pods, it will be possible to locate a maintenance vessel nearby. Small lightweight pods can be pulled to the surface quickly to be worked on.
“如果我们部署在一个大型集群中，比如说20多个吊舱，那么附近就会有一艘维修船，它会对大故障或中断做出反应，”她说。“断开连接、恢复、更换服务器、重新部署，大约需要六到八个小时。”
“If we deploy in a large cluster, let’s say more than 20 pods, there will be a nearby maintenance vessel which will react to large faults or disturbances,” she says. ”To disconnect, recover, replace servers, redeploy, will take us around six to eight hours.”
但大多数水下数据中心都会配备备用硬件，因此无需将模块带回水面即可重新安排运行：“我们为所有吊舱配备了冗余。我认为该领域的任何其他公司都会提供类似的服务，他们也会看到不同类型监控的好处。”
But most underwater data centers will have spare hardware in place, so operations can be rerouted without having to bring the module to the surface: “We have redundancy in place for all pods. I presume any other company in the space will offer similar and they will also see the benefits of different classes of monitoring.”
有时有人断言，海洋受不同规则管辖，通常旨在控制捕鱼和矿产开采。数据中心运营者可能希望他们可以摆脱为陆上建筑制定的令人厌烦的分区规则，但他们可能仍然在规划方面感到头疼。
It’s sometimes asserted that the sea is governed by different rules, generally aimed at controlling fishing and mineral extraction. Data center operators may hope that they can be free of tiresome zoning rules created for land-based buildings, but they may still have planning headaches.
“不幸的是，在美国和亚洲，规划许可不一定会更容易，” Reynolds警告说。“相对于未来的需求，海底许可的管理系统还不完善，但随着行业的转变，它将迎头赶上。”
“In the US and Asia, planning permission will not necessarily be easier, unfortunately,” warns Reynolds. “The governing system for subsea permitting is underdeveloped relative to future needs, but it will catch up as the industry shifts.”
