Subsea equipment monitoring system

A method for monitoring subsea drilling, comprising:

• detecting acoustic signals generated by a drill using a plurality of acoustic sensor arrays that each include at least two acoustic sensors, wherein at least a first acoustic sensor array is mounted on an outer surface of a subsea blow out preventer (BOP) surrounding the drill and at least a second acoustic sensor array is positioned remote from the BOP;
• determining an operating characteristic of the drill within the BOP based on the detected acoustic signals using a digital data processor that communicates with the plurality of acoustic sensor arrays;
• detecting the operating characteristic of the drill at a location above a surface of the sea;
• and
• alerting a user via a user interface coupled to the digital data processor if a difference between the characteristic value of the drill within the BOP and the characteristic value of the drill above the surface of the sea is greater than a predetermined amount.

A method for detecting leaks in subsea equipment, comprising:

• detecting acoustic signals generated by subsea equipment using a plurality of acoustic sensor arrays that each include at least two acoustic sensors, wherein at least a first acoustic sensor array is mounted on an outer surface of the subsea equipment and at least a second acoustic sensor array is positioned remote from the subsea equipment;
• developing a baseline of acoustic signals produced during normal operation of the subsea equipment using a digital data processor coupled to the plurality of acoustic sensor arrays;
• and
• alerting a user via a user interface coupled to the digital data processor if a detected acoustic signal differs from the baseline by at least a predetermined amount.