HonuWorx Takes Delivery of its First ROV

The Aberdeen-based subsea robotics firm HonuWorx Ltd has acquired a VALOR remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which will form a key component of its Loggerhead subsea robotics deployment platform. 

VALOR is manufactured by Aberdeen and Barrow-in-Furness based Rovtech Solutions.

HonuWorx aims to begin constructing the first commercial Loggerhead pilot system in Aberdeen this year for a series of offshore commercial tests in 2027. The newly-purchased ROV forms part of an Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) Innovation Project to accelerate the systems integration engineering.

The VALOR ROV is one of a new generation of compact inspection class vehicles which can be outfitted with a wide variety of tools and sensors that previously could only be fitted to large electro-hydraulic ROVs. HonuWorx has additionally developed a cloud-control architecture that enables the VALOR vehicle to be controlled 'over the horizon' in a similar way to airborne drones.

The underwater robotics pioneer has previously validated the Loggerhead technology with a full-scale prototype trial offshore in Canada, deploying an ROV from an autonomous submersible mothership platform and controlling the system from shore in what is believed to be a world-first demonstration.

"The deployment of ROVs has not changed in the last 40 years of the offshore energy industry with large, crewed, fossil fuel powered surface vessels typically used to transport vehicles to worksites. By removing the need for surface ships, the Loggerhead all-electric uncrewed system has the potential to vastly reduce the emissions, cost and risk of underwater robotics operations. Per vessel displaced, Loggerhead will remove the equivalent emissions of 4,000 petrol or diesel cars," the company said in a statement.