British SME ZeroUSV is one step closer to offering the world’s first charter fleet of fully autonomous uncrewed surface vessels after its inaugural Oceanus12 touched the water for the first time at Manor Marine in Portland, Dorset, this week.
The fully equipped vessel is now ready for commissioning and integration trials from ZeroUSV’s home port of Plymouth. The launching of the first Oceanus12 took nearly eighteen months of design, engineering and build effort from the team at ZeroUSV.
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Subsequent vessels nearing completion
The Oceanus12 builds on the success of the Mayflower 400’s transatlantic autonomous voyage – a milestone achieved through the same inter-company collaborations between ZeroUSV’s parent company MSubs, their non-profit Promare, and sister marine software company MarineAI.
The launch of the first vessel in the Oceanus12 series will be followed by vessel two to be completed in late March and vessels three and four hot on their heels. An official boat naming ceremony is scheduled for the spring.
Charter business model
Since the “charter” business model was first announced just under twelve months ago, significant interest has been generated, which has led to exciting opportunities for these first two vessels, information on which will be announced in the coming weeks. With ZeroUSV not only owning and operating the vessels, but also the ROC (remote observation centre), the Oceanus12 is a true “turnkey” package for charter customers.
Zero USV founder Matthew Ratsey: ‘Oceanus12 presents a quantum leap forward in autonomous maritime technology and this is a seminal moment for the team here at ZeroUSV. We’ve created the world’s first complete solution – not just a cutting-edge 12-metre over-the-horizon USV available for charter, but also full maintenance and support to ensure 24/7 operations with minimal downtime.
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Oceanus12
The 12-metre Oceanus12, designed for long distance over-the-horizon operations, has also been designed to be mission agnostic, allowing a wide range of potential applications: from surveys and monitoring of critical assets to safety, geophysical surveys, border control, fisheries, defence and more. The USV has a 6-knot cruising speed with sprint speed of 10 knots.
The aluminium Oceanus12 is groundbreaking in multiple areas of technology: from its hybrid-electric drive system, with twin drives for redundancy and efficiency coupled with sufficient onboard fuel for a cruising range of more than 2500 nautical miles, to the use of the only truly fully autonomous software stack on the market – MarineAI’s Guardian software. The USV also uses solar charging for house and emergency loads.
Utilising a suite of world-class marine sensors, including the internationally renowned mm-wave Navtech Radar, Oceanus12 integrates multiple data streams into MarineAI’s GuardianAI autonomy software. This enables real-time processing and analysis, ensuring COLREG-compliant vessel control and navigation.
Ratsey adds: ‘Designed with safety and efficiency in mind, Oceanus12 can take on a wide range of offshore over-the-horizon tasks that would typically require a crew, eliminating on-water risks and associated costs, including significant environmental benefits afforded by it being crewless. For clients, this means greater flexibility, enhanced operational efficiency, and zero crew expenses.’
Picture and video below by ZeroUSV.
