Page 24: of Marine News Magazine (July 2021)

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Feature

Autonomous Workboats

An Ocean In? nity robotic survey vessel

Ocean In? nity has the operational potential to be deployed as a remotely controlled unmanned vessel.”

The underwater sector has, by necessity, embraced au- tonomy, and technologies developed for underwater in- spection and survey vessels are now being made available to the workboat and other surface vessels. Fugro, a leader in deepwater surveys, offers a suite of unmanned vehicles, including its unmanned Blue Essence 12-meter surface vessel which is suitable for “inspection, construction sup- port, hydrographic and geophysical surveys.” Fugro not- ed, “Blue Essence’s modular design means that it can be used for a wide range of industry tasks within the energy sector and others”. Ocean In? nity, a Texas-based marine robotics provider (known for its searches for the doomed

MH370 airliner), which has been deploying Kongsberg

Hugin autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) in its unmanned deepsea survey and data collection work, is now developing a ? eet of 15 hybrid (battery/ Volvo Penta diesel) powered unmanned surface vessels- dubbed Ar- mada. The vessels, being built at Grovfjord Mek. Verksted (GMV) shipyard on Norway’s west coast, will also be able to launch AUVs. Closer to home, offshore stalwart Edison

Chouest, with its eye on the offshore wind sector (where sustainability is crucial in vessel choice), has extensive ex- perience in AUV’s and ROVs, with its C-Innovation sub- sidiary, based in the New Orleans area.

The classi? cation societies’ successes in developing sys- 24 | MN July 2021