Rising expectations: A deep dive on underwater vehicles
Underwater vehicles have solidified their position, with autonomous and remotely operated platforms becoming core operational tools across offshore, defense, inspection and maintenance, exploration and marine science applications. As the subsea industry rapidly evolves to keep pace with global trends, several defining themes emerge amongst leading vehicle companies—multi-use, usability, visibility, endurance and, unsurprisingly, autonomy.Multi-UseAs underwater vehicles assume more responsibility, there is a noticeable shift away from standalone, single-domain vehicles in favor of fleets of
Subsea: The Future of Unmanned Vehicles
to consider. For example, the high current shallow water nature of renewables installation and IRM work differs from deep water oil and gas construction and intervention applications. Also, nuclear decommissioning activities demand different tasks to be completed, compared to aquaculture or marine science applications - and of course their environments are very different. The market demands a wide range of platforms and a high degree of customization for the specific sector needs. In this regard Bates counts Saab Seaeye’s iCON ecosystem of intelligent robotic
New ASV Delivered to University of Southampton
a smaller vehicle is better suited to missions. The design incorporates a large payload bay to enable payload flexibility. The vessel has a modular, lightweight design for ease of transport and mobilization. Its shallow draft and payload capacity make C-Cat 3 suited shallow survey and marine science applications. C-Cat 3 is powered by two electric motors and can be controlled manually or to follow preprogrammed routes that can be updated at any point through a PC based GUI. The C-Cat 3 includes the core functionality proven in all ASV Global vessels and systems, autonomous vessel
Kongsberg Launches New Color PATZ Cameras
(PAL) and OE14-223 (NTSC) underwater CCD color cameras provide completely enclosed pan, tilt and zoom functionality. KONGSBERG’s new cameras support a wide range of applications including, observational and situational awareness tasks, close proximity inspection, process monitoring, marine science applications and manned submersible deployment. A development of the Kongsberg Maritime OE14-122/3 PATZ camera platform, the OE14-222/3 cameras have been upgraded using the latest technology, giving the operator advantages such as removing the 45 second calibration delay during initialization, improved
Planet Ocean Signs Partnering Agreement with ASV
ASV Ltd and Planet Ocean Ltd have signed a Technology Partnering Agreement which sees Planet Ocean as the ASV technology partner for marine science applications to provide turnkey solutions for the marine science sector. Initially focussing on ASV’s C-Enduro, a long endurance autonomous surface vehicle, Planet Ocean will be working alongside the ASV team to provide standard and customised payloads for marine science missions. Planet Ocean’s considerable experience with sensors, telemetry and asset tracking of all types will ensure that the capabilities of the C-Enduro vehicle are
February 2026
