British firm Zero USV has launched its Oceanus12 unmanned surface vessel (USV), marking a step closer to offering the world’s first charter fleet of fully-autonomous USVs.
The launch of the company’s inaugural Oceanus12 took place earlier in February at Manor Marine in Portland in Dorset.
The fully equipped vessel is now ready for commissioning and integration trials from Zero USV’s home port of Plymouth.
The launching of the first Oceanus12 represents the culmination of nearly 18 months of design, engineering and build effort from the team at Zero USV which has been built on the success of the Mayflower 400’s transatlantic autonomous voyage – a milestone achieved through the same inter-company collaborations between Zero USV’s parent company MSubs, their non-profit Promare, and sister marine software company MarineAI.
Following the launch of the first vessel in the Oceanus12 series, the company is preparing to complete the second vessel in late March, along with vessels three and four shortly after.
The 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, defense and more.
Since the ‘charter’ business model was first announced just under a year, 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, the company said.
The 12-meter Oceanus12 USV features 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, and fully autonomous software stack on the market – MarineAI’s Guardian software.
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.
“We’ve created the world’s first complete solution – not just a cutting-edge 12 meter over-the-horizon USV available for charter, but also full maintenance and support to ensure 24/7 operations with minimal downtime.
“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,” said Matthew Ratsey, Zero USV founder.