UK Backs Development of 145-ft Uncrewed Offshore Support Vessel

A consortium led by UK unmanned vessel developer ACUA Ocean has secured government support to develop a new 145-foot uncrewed offshore support vessel, aiming to scale up autonomous operations for offshore energy, logistics and surveillance.

The Project MROS consortium, which includes Houlder, Ad Hoc Marine Designs, Trident Marine and the University of Southampton, received funding earlier this year under the UK Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. The partners are now progressing with resistance and seakeeping tank tests led by the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute and the Wolfson Unit.

The medium-sized vessel will feature hybrid-electric propulsion and operate autonomously, remotely, or with a small embarked crew. Designers are evaluating methanol fuel for efficiency and emissions reduction, alongside hydrogen, ammonia and diesel variants.

Building on ACUA’s 14-metre Pioneer-class USV, the new platform incorporates a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) design to reduce motions in high sea states. Pioneer became the first uncrewed surface vessel to receive UK MCA Workboat Code 3 approval this year, providing key operational data for the larger MROS design.

The 43-metre vessel will offer DP1 station keeping, a 2,500-nautical-mile range, endurance of more than 20 days and sprint speeds above 20 knots. It is designed for roles such as offshore logistics, surveillance, subsea inspection, intervention and offshore commissioning and decommissioning. Payload capacity will reach 80 tonnes, including space for ISO-standard containers and a moonpool configured for twin launch and recovery systems for ROVs and XUUVs.

ACUA Ocean will announce additional system-integration partners in the coming months as it develops modular mission payloads for both the Pioneer and MROS fleets.

“The MROS project builds on ACUA Ocean’s proven ability to deploy proven and certified vessels. Most excitingly, this new design offers significant capability and cost-saving benefits over other USVs currently in development; delivering new solutions for a range of offshore commercial partners,” said Neil Tinmouth, CEO of ACUA Ocean.