Fugro cements autonomous solutions with USV order

Dutch survey operator Fugro has ordered two 12m uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) from British builder Sea-Kit.

The first of the Sea-Kit X-class USVs will be delivered to Fugro in Perth, Australia, in the fourth quarter of 2020. It will feature remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) launch-and-recovery systems and station-keeping capabilities. The vessel is designed to conduct completely uncrewed ROV pipeline inspections in up to 400m water depth on Australia’s North West Shelf.

The second USV, which will have a similar fit-out, will go to Fugro in Aberdeen in the first quarter of 2021 for operations in the North Sea. Contract also includes design, build and delivery of Sea-Kit’s 24m Omega class USV in 2021.

Ivar de Josselin de Jong, Director Remote Inspection at Fugro, comments the investment: “This order cements Fugro’s strategy to lead the development of remote and autonomous solutions, which is key to delivering a safer, more sustainable and more efficient approach to the construction and maintenance of marine assets. Integration of the new USVs into our global network of remote operation centres (ROCs) will allow us to provide our clients with an entirely remote-controlled inspection solution for the first time in history. In addition to applications in the oil and gas industry, we specifically foresee an important role for our new remote inspection solution in the rapidly growing offshore wind sector.”