ABS Certifies World’s Largest Classed Unmanned Surface Vehicle

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued classification to the Surveyor, a fully autonomous deepwater unmanned surface vehicle (USV), developed by Saildrone.

At 20 meters long and capable of unmanned operations across all of the world’s oceans, the Surveyor is the largest class of USVs from Saildrone, a provider of maritime security, ocean mapping, and meteorological and oceanographic data using unmanned autonomous assets.

The USV is capable of long-endurance missions in the open ocean, collecting deep-ocean bathymetry and performing a wide range of maritime domain awareness tasks.

The classification follows the smaller 10-meter Voyager, which achieved ABS Class in 2023 and is designed for persistent surveillance in coastal and near-shore environments.

Saildrone USVs are capable of fully autonomous operations with no human onboard and are remotely monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the company’s global Mission Management team.

“ABS and Saildrone are pioneering new frontiers, setting the pace for innovation. This step forward is a result of our investments in ABS’ technical capability and helping to ensure our Rules are able to support innovation with an unwavering focus on safety,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.

“The ABS class certification is more than a certificate - it’s a signal to governments and the maritime industry that Saildrone USVs are mature, safe, tested, and ready for scale.

“It’s been a very large investment and a multi-year process to achieve ABS Class Certification, but we are proud to be the first company in the world to do so and proud that our systems have reached the highest standards as required by the ABS Class certificate,” added Richard Jenkins, Saildrone founder and CEO.