Unmanned vessels trialled for subsea operations

Fugro is more advanced in adopting USVs, with fleets of these vessels working offshore completing surveys and light subsea interventions. The first of these, the Blue Shadow 8-m unmanned vessel, was introduced for subsea surveys in 2020. 

Fugro commercial manager Sjoerd Butter said this was followed by 12-m Blue Essence vessels in 2022, to operate electric-powered ROVs deployed for subsea inspection work.

He said the next generation of USVs, the 18-m Blue Prism, was launched into water in the UK in 2023 and would be ready for subsea surveys and another USV class, Blue Eclipse is on the drawing board and will be developed for remote inspection and monitoring requirements.

Kongsberg Discovery has developed a new class of its Hugin AUVs with greater endurance for subsea operations. The existing fleet of more than 100 AUVs includes Hugin Edge with enough power for one day, Hugin for 1-3 days of operation and Hugin Superior with 2-3 days endurance which is capable of operating down to 6,000-m water depth.

Kongsberg Discovery president Martin Wien Fjell said the next version will be Hugin Endurance with enough power for 16 days of operation. This 11-m, 8,000-kg AUV will have a width of 1.2 m and 400-kWh lithium-polymer batteries, multipurpose operations and customised payloads.

It will be tested in February 2024 with dives in the seas off Norway and in the Atlantic.

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