Page 27: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2020)

t ISE we say that if the num-

AUV technology continues to rapidly improve ber of launches doesn’t equal the number of recoveries, as more companies, organizations, and you’re having a really bad governments worldwide add AUV operations day. Though a bit tongue-in-

A cheek, this saying highlights as part of their capabilities, however, there the inherent risks of operating AUVs offshore. A successful survey counts for continues to be a technological blind spot when nothing if you are unable to recover the

AUV and download the data. In this ar- it comes to launch and recovery. In commercial ticle we’ll talk about the importance of operations, ISE’s market research suggests that considering launch and recovery, some

LARS options as well as a look at some up to 50% of possible survey days can be lost of the designs for improvements that ISE is working on.

to bad weather due to the diffculty of launch and recovery offshore, depending on the time of

Launch & Recovery year and operator’s appetite for risk of damage

As we know, offshore weather is rarely calm. Depending on the location and to their AUV. This means that improving launch time of year, sea state can vary consid- erably. When operators decide to launch and recovery has the potential to double the their AUVs, they must consider what the sea state is likely to be 1-3 days later for performance of the AUV survey system. There recovery. If they decide it is likely to be is no other improvement in AUV technology too dangerous to recover the AUV with- out serious damage, then they will not that has the potential to offer as signifcant launch. One operator reported that dur- ing the two best months of the year, they of an improvement to operational effciency would likely lose up to 50% of days due to this issue. An AUV should be out sur- as addressing the challenges of launch and veying not sitting on deck waiting for a recovery by reducing or eliminating the days weather window!

When the window comes, launch and lost to bad weather. In spite of this, launch recovery is still a dangerous time for a multi-million-dollar AUV, when heav- and recovery systems are often neglected or ing seas threaten to smash it against the uncompromising bulk of the ship. The differed during the AUV procurement process systems for launch and recovery attempt for reasons of cost and a lack of appreciation to mitigate this risk with varying degrees of success. of their importance to operational success.

Nevertheless, the scars of rough re- coveries can be seen on the surfaces of

In this article the challenges of launch and many AUVs. Missing antennas, dam- aged transducers and scratched paint are recovery offshore are discussed, industry unfortunately a common occurrence. An standard launch and recovery systems (LARS)

AUV should be out surveying, not on deck being repaired!

are evaluated, and new and innovative solutions

A good way to measure an AUV’s per- formance is by the number of kilometers to the challenges of launch and recovery are surveyed per day of ship time, includ- ing days lost to weather, turnaround presented which address critical shortcomings time on deck, and the AUV in-water of existing LARS technology.

performance. When evaluated through www.marinetechnologynews.com

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