Sofar Ocean Launches Spotter Scout USV

Sofar Ocean, a leading ocean intelligence platform, launched Spotter Scout, a rugged, solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) built by Online Oceans, a UK-based marine robotics company, that enables persistent ocean sensing in remote and deep water locations—no moorings, crew, or depth limits.

Remote ocean monitoring is typically expensive and complex. Traditional mooring systems are hard to deploy, maintain, and relocate, and often cost more than the sensors they support. This makes them difficult to justify for shorter-term deployments.

Spotter Scout removes these constraints. The USV holds position in deep water, transits between locations on command, and can return home after six or more months unattended. While deployed, it collects the same surface and subsurface data trusted by thousands of Spotter Platform users worldwide, and sends every observation to the Spotter Dashboard and API in real time.

Spotter Scout is engineered for long-term performance in the harshest ocean conditions. Its flooded hull has no sealed air volume to breach, keeping it operational in sea states 7 and 8. A keel-mounted 2kWh battery provides the ballast needed to self-right in extreme conditions and, paired with a 340w solar array, ensures continuous operation. Spotter Scout supports cellular, Iridium, and Starlink connectivity, enabling reliable communication from nearshore to the open ocean. If a project’s needs change, an operator can reposition it with a simple browser-based command sent via desktop or mobile.