London, 19 March 2024, (Oilandgaspress): – Autonomous vessel experts and artificial intelligence (AI) pioneers behind the first full-size unmanned research vessel to conduct scientific experiments whilst autonomously navigating across the Atlantic Ocean have announced their plans to launch the world’s first fully autonomous uncrewed surface vessel (USV) fleet for long term lease or charter. The owners behind the company, Zero USV, a collaboration between the founders of Marine AI and MSubs, aim to have the first vessels fully tested and available by September 2024.
Oceanus12 has been specifically designed as a versatile platform, with a very wide range of potential applications from surveys and monitoring of critical assets to safety. These include, for instance, geophysical surveying and mapping, offshore oil & gas exploration, renewables exploration and maintenance, through to border control, fisheries science, and defence.
With a twin-electric drive for optimum redundancy, and a hybrid powertrain for resilience and efficiency, coupled with Marine AI’s GuardianAI autonomy software stack, Oceanus12 is a 12 metre, fully autonomous ‘turnkey’ package ready to sail.
The company’s founder, Matthew Ratsey, says it is designed from the ground up specifically for over the horizon autonomous operations and will allow increased efficiency whilst offering payload flexibility, and reducing risk and human error, especially in harsh or hard to reach environments.
Utilising a suite of world-class marine sensors, including the internationally reputed W-band Navtech Radar, which forms a key part of a combination of sensor data streams feeding into Marine AI’s GuardianAI autonomy software for real time processing and analysis, and ultimately COLREG compliant vessel control and navigation.
The build of the USVs is to be completed by Dorset-based Manor Marine, an OEG Group company, prior to electronics, sensors, and software installation. Manor Marine has an established reputation in aluminium vessel construction spanning more than 30 years.
Says Matthew Ratsey, who is the managing director of Zero USV: “We believe that we are in a unique position, with our company backgrounds and experience, to bring together the technologies required to offer clients an “off the shelf” autonomous vessel, whilst also being able to offer customisation where necessary for specific jobs or clients. There has long been a requirement for proper “over the horizon” capable USVs to fulfil a whole host of roles, but pulling the relevant technologies together has been extremely difficult for vessel operators. Zero USV solves that.
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