Deepwater brings the unglamorous business of keeping infrastructure alive to Gastech

Walk around Gastech and it is easy to be pulled towards the biggest machines, the newest fuels and the loudest claims about what comes next. Deepwater Corrosion Services is working on a less glamorous part of the energy system: stopping the infrastructure already in the ground and offshore from quietly destroying itself.

The company specialises in cathodic protection, corrosion inspection and retrofit systems for offshore oil and gas, pipelines, terminals and offshore wind. In plain English, that means finding ways to slow or stop the electrochemical process that eats away at steel, then proving that the protection is still doing its job years later.

Ageing assets make corrosion a bigger problem, not a smaller one

That matters because much of the energy infrastructure now being asked to operate longer was never expected to remain untouched forever. Extending the life of a platform or pipeline is not simply a matter of deciding to keep using it. Operators need evidence that the structure can remain safe, and corrosion control is a large part of that calculation.

Deepwater's work ranges from cathodic-protection design and modelling to subsea surveys, replacement anode systems and monitoring. The company also supplies I-Rod pipe-support systems, Polatrak inspection equipment and a growing range of cathodic-protection hardware.

A busier year for the corrosion specialist

Deepwater turns 40 in 2026, but the company has been adding to the business rather than simply celebrating the anniversary. In May it acquired UK pin-brazing specialist Electrobraze, bringing the company's equipment, consumables, training and technical expertise into the Deepwater group.

The timing is relevant in Southeast Asia. Thailand's JST Group, which works with Deepwater in corrosion control, announced in August that Electrobraze pin-brazing services are now available in Thailand. The technique is used to attach cathodic-protection cables to pipelines and other steel structures with relatively low heat input, including on live and thin-wall assets.

The story behind the steel

For an industry talking constantly about new infrastructure, there is a parallel question that gets less attention: how much value can be recovered by making existing infrastructure last longer?

That is where companies such as Deepwater sit. Better inspection, better modelling and targeted retrofit work can postpone major replacement projects, reduce unplanned intervention and give operators a clearer picture of what an ageing asset can safely do next.

It is not the flashiest story on the Gastech floor. It may be one of the more commercially important ones.

The Stratawire is reporting from Gastech 2026 in Bangkok.