SeaBot Maritime, University of Plymouth Sign MoU to Advance Marine Autonomy Collaboration
SeaBot Maritime is expanding its maritime autonomy training programs into South West England through a new partnership with the University of Plymouth. As an international leader in Flag State-recognized Remote USV Operator training, SeaBot Maritime has successfully trained maritime autonomy professionals across the Solent region in collaboration with the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Marines. This expansion marks the next phase of growth for SeaBot Maritime and strengthens the network of autonomous maritime professionals across the UK.
Subsea Expo Awards Raises Over $6k for UK Food Charity
over 25,000 meals.FareShare distributes food through its network of regional centers, which includes operations in Aberdeen, Newcastle and Bristol—he locations of Global Underwater Hub’s three regional offices. Combined, FareShare’s operations in north-east Scotland, and north-east and south-west England supplies surplus food to over 700 organizations that are supporting people experiencing food poverty. In 2026, Subsea Expo will take place at P&J Live in Aberdeen, February 4-5.
Floating Wind Leasing Round in the Celtic Sea
The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has set out further details of a new leasing round for three commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England. The projects have the potential to deliver enough clean, renewable energy for more than four million homes.In one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world, sites totalling 4.5GW of floating wind off the coast of South Wales and South West England will be leased across three agreed areas of the Celtic Sea. This is now expected to be
Seagrass Monitoring to the Fore in South West England
A new, non-invasive method to measure and monitor seagrass biomass on the seabed around England’s South West coast is being developed as part of an ongoing, collaborative project.The new technique is currently being trialed by local companies HydroSurv and Valeport, working with the University of Plymouth and Natural England, and supported by a grant of more than £266,000 from Innovate UK’s Smart Grants program.It builds on the concept of the acoustic reflectivity of seagrass providing valuable information to characterize submerged aquatic vegetation. A full-stack solution consisting
Smartphone App Aims to Help Commercial Fishing Reduce Bycatch
. DEFRA estimates that bycatch of Fulmar bird species alone, could number 4,500-5,700 birds every year.Developed for Clean Catch UK, a research program bringing scientists and the fishing industry together to reduce the impact of fishing on sensitive marine species, the app is currently in use in South-West England will plans for rollout in other parts of the U.K. as well.The app can be used on regular smartphones and store-and-forward technology queues data for delivery later and if network coverage is poor so that important bycatch data is not lost.David Davies, managing director of AST Marine
New Floating Wind Center Launched
Climate Change’s recommendation of 75 gigawatts by 2050. ORE Catapult’s Macroeconomic Benefits Report, released in September 2018, and the joint Renewable UK and Scottish Renewables Floating Wind – The UK Industry Ambition report released today, both identify Scotland, Wales and South West England as key areas that could benefit from floating offshore wind, creating 17,000 jobs and generating £33.6 billion ($43.7 billion) for the UK economy by 2050.The Center of Excellence will cover all the areas of floating wind activity in the UK aligning activity nationally and developing projects
Thales Invests to Advance Autonomy
unmanned technology across air and sea by investing in two new UK-based trials and training centers. Following Thales’s successful trials during the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise in 2016, Thales is now investing in two trials and training centres based in West Wales and in South-West England to test and develop autonomous systems for both military and civil activities. "Investing in these facilities enables the safe test, evaluation and training of autonomous platforms, innovative research and development, as well as the regulations for military and civil applicatio
Sonardyne Demonstrates Vessel Navigation Capabilities
Maritime security technology company, Sonardyne International Ltd, has demonstrated the capabilities of its Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Sonar, NOAS, during three days of water borne demonstrations in Plymouth, south-west England. More than 25 equipment specifiers, owners’ representatives and vessel operators from the European superyacht industry, commercial shipping and naval community attended the event in late November to witness first-hand the capabilities of NOAS as an important new aid to vessel navigation and underwater obstacle avoidance. Above the water, innovatio
Meet the AutoNaut
early 2014, The National Oceanography Centre in Southampton began planning the MASSMO mission, which was to take place in October/November 2014. This first part of the mission was to deploy multiple unmanned vehicles in a ‘fleet’ to track Oceanographic Fronts from the Isles of Scilly in South West England and out towards the continental shelf in the Celtic Sea. The second part of the mission was to be just off the coast of Plymouth, England and this was to track ~85 fish tagged by the Marine Biological Association based on Plymouth Hoe. AutoNaut was selected to be part of the fleet, and a
February 2026
