Bend stiffener

A bend stiffener for locally protecting an elongate flexible member from excessive curvature when the elongate flexible member is deployed in water, the bend stiffener comprising:

• an elongate stiffener body having
• a root end,
• a free end, and
• a passage extending through the stiffener body from the root end to the free end for receiving and embracing the flexible member;
• a coupling at or toward the root end of the stiffener body for mounting the stiffener body;
• and
• a sensor module located proximate the free end of the bend stiffener, the sensor module being a self-contained device with a sealable housing containing
• sensors configured to sense inclination and/or orientation and/or movement of the free end of the bend stiffener,
• an onboard power supply, and
• a memory for logging sensor data, and
• wherein the sensor module being removably mounted to the stiffener body enabling the sensor module to be recovered while the bend stiffener is deployed;
• and
• the stiffener body being sufficiently flexible to curve along with the flexible member when the flexible member suffers a bending load.