The Tethered Remote Operated Vehicle (TROV) was donated to the WA Museum in 1989 by Western Australian Petroleum (WAPET) – a pioneer oil and gas exploration company formed as a joint venture between Caltex and Ampol.

It was originally owned by Solus Ocean Systems and hired to Western Australian Petroleum to investigate off shore drilling operations. The vehicle was lost at sea in 1981 when inspecting an old oil well head located north-west of Barrow Island after the umbilical cord, connecting it to the mother ship fouled on a well head. It was recovered by WAPET eight years later when the oil well head was being investigated in a subsequent operation.