Page 12: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2018)

James Ives, Xocean oices

James Ives

Xocean

Photos: Xocean

Xocean is a new name for our readers. Please provide Where are you today in terms of ready for market. Do an overview of the company, and the product you offer. you have vehicles in the water? Are there any systems

Based in Ireland, Xocean was founded in early 2017. Using sold? unmanned surface vessels (USVs), Xocean offers turnkey We launched the ? rst unit in January 2018 and since then we data collection services to survey companies and govern- have been completing extensive sea trials and system tests. ment agencies. The Xocean platform operates 24/7, accel- Build of the second unit is currently under way and we plan erating project delivery at a third of the cost of conventional to increase the ? eet further by the end of the year. methods. The team has extensive experience in technology development and operational delivery in the marine environ- Are you looking to make Xocean a vehicle company, a ment. data company, or both?

Xocean is an ocean data service provider. We offer turnkey

There are many vehicles in this market, and in fact a re- data collection services to survey companies and govern- cent proliferation of surface vehicles. What makes your ment agencies. End to end, Xocean is responsible from mo- vessel stand out in an increasingly crowded ? eld? bilization right through to data delivery to the customer.

The XO-450 USV is designed speci? cally for the ef? cient and cost-effective collection of commercial ocean data, key What are the company’s prime objectives in the coming features include: 12 to 24 months?

• Operation: Full over the horizon using satellite broadband We are currently focused on delivering service in Europe • Range: 18 days / 1,512nm endurance and expanding into other markets such as Australia, U.S. • Power: 1,050W continuous electrical load and Canada from 2019. We are lining up several projects this • Payload: 100kg for sensors year with partners including ? sh stock assessments, bathy- • Transportation: Road trailer or 20-ft. shipping container metric surveys and data harvesting.

Applications include: • Hydrographic survey

Meet James Ives • Fish stock assessment • Met ocean data collection James Ives is an engineer and was previously the CEO of • Data harvesting OpenHydro, a tidal energy business. At OpenHydro, James scaled the technology from a 35kW prototype to a 2MW in-

Xocean’s business model is also unique by offering ocean dustrial class turbine and built an international project port- data collection as a turnkey service. We manage everything folio spanning Canada, France, Japan and the UK with cus- from mobilization right up to the point we hand over the raw tomers including EDF, Emera and Kyuden Mirai. www.xocean.com data to the survey organization or government agencies.

2018 May 12 MTR

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