ZeroStab
ZeroStab is a subsea hydraulic connector that uses laser-sintered metal additive manufacturing to break a design ceiling the offshore industry has lived with for decades.
ZeroStab has been announced as a finalist for the 2026 Western Australia’s Innovators of the Year in the Advanced Manufacturing Award, sponsored by Adarsh Australia.
“The industry-standard hot stab geometry has not changed in decades, and it cannot easily be changed. Those standards are the boundaries. Everything inside them is fair play and open for improvement. We have played by the rules and changed the game.
We call it ZeroStab, a completely redesigned hot stab that reduces fluid loss during coupling as close as practical to zero, and the pressure drop across the system as close to zero as possible. That means more power available to the machinery and less fluid released to the environment.”
ZeroStab, leak-free and high-flow
It is named ZeroStab because its design comes as close to zero leakage and zero pressure drop as physics will allow.
Industry-standard ISO and API interface geometry has been locked in for decades, with conventional hot stabs typically machined from exotic stainless alloys such as Monel and Inconel. That manufacturing route forces long, straight internal drillings that choke fluid flow, and any attempt to prevent leakage must be achieved with tiny, lossy valve components.
ZeroStab retains the interface profile that ROV operators and existing female receptacles already accept, so it is a drop-in replacement. Laser-sintered galleries sweep and curve past each other to present a smooth, low-loss flow path that no drilling process could produce.
With packaging constraints relaxed, soft-seated check valves with larger sealing areas can be used, replacing the leak-prone metal-on-metal seats the industry has accepted as unavoidable.
Common Questions About ZeroStab
What is ZeroStab?
ZeroStab is a subsea hydraulic connector, or hot stab, made by laser-sintered metal additive manufacturing. Curved internal galleries replace the drilled channels and valves used in conventional hot stabs, to reduce leakage and pressure drop. It was a finalist in the Advanced Manufacturing category of Western Australia’s Innovators of the Year 2026.
What is a hot stab?
Subsea machinery is almost always hydraulically powered, so it has to be connected to a hydraulic power source. A hot stab is the multi-channel hydraulic coupler the industry uses to make that connection. An ROV inserts it into a receptacle on the subsea equipment.
How does ZeroStab reduce leakage and pressure drop?
Conventional hot stabs are machined, which forces long, straight drilled channels and small valve components. That compromises how the stab operates, how much hydraulic power is lost through it, and how much fluid leaks to the environment. Additive manufacturing lets ZeroStab’s channels curve and sweep past each other, and leaves room for larger soft-seated check valves.
What difference does a lower pressure drop make?
Less pressure lost through the connector means a lower power draw and more hydraulic power at the machinery, so the tooling runs more efficiently. Lower leakage means less hydraulic fluid released to the environment during operation.
Will ZeroStab fit our existing receptacles?
Yes. ZeroStab keeps the industry-standard interface profile that ROV operators and existing female receptacles already accept, so it is designed as a drop-in replacement.
Is ZeroStab qualified and available now?
Specification, interface detail and current test status are available on request. Tell us the interface you are working to and what the connection has to do, and we will tell you where ZeroStab stands against it.
Talk to Us About ZeroStab
Tell us the interface you are working to and what the connection has to do, and we will come back with where ZeroStab is up to against it. Specification, interface detail and current test status are available on request.
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