Page 12: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2025)
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SPONSORED CONTENT ACUA OCEAN
ACUA Ocean’s USV PIONEER becomes the first ROUV certified under the UK Workboat Code 3
The certifcation represents a signifcant development in the evolution of regulatory pathways for uncrewed and autonomous vessels operating in UK waters.
loyd’s Register (LR) has issued the UK’s frst cer- Launched in December 2024, USV PIONEER is a 47ft, tifcation for a remotely operated and unmanned 25-ton unmanned surface vessel featuring advanced au- vessel (ROUV) under the Maritime and Coast- tonomous navigation, remote command capabilities, and a guard Agency’s (MCA) Workboat Code Edition 3 modular design tailored to a variety of offshore operations,
L (WBC3) Annex 2, with hydrogen-powered PIONEER from including environmental monitoring, maritime domain
ACUA Ocean becoming the frst vessel to achieve compliance. awareness, and offshore infrastructure inspection.
Introduced by the MCA in December 2023, the WBC3 PIONEER’s novel SWATH design provides enhanced requirements set out safety and operational standards for stability in higher seastates including operational availabil-
ROUVs operating in UK waters. LR was the frst certifying ity for the launch and recovery of payloads such as ROV’s authority to be authorised by the MCA to issue certifcates in up to 4m signifcant wave heights. PIONEER features under Annex 2 and now becomes the frst to complete a a moonpool, designed to rapidly integrate a range of inter- full certifcation process for an operational ROUV. changeable modular payloads based on 1x 20ft or 2x 10ft
Developed by Plymouth-based ACUA Ocean, PIO- ISO standard containerised solutions of up to 6.5 tons.
NEER is a hydrogen-powered, long-endurance uncrewed Planned work with the offshore sector includes survey, surface vessel (USV) designed for offshore surveillance, ROV and AUV deployments for light inspection and in- monitoring, and inspection. tervention work, as well as logistics for offshore platforms.
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