Unmanned Vessels Map UK Nearshore

4DOcean and XOCEAN announced the completion of over 2,000 hours of unmanned bathymetric survey off the coasts of Scotland and England as part of the UK’s Lot 2 Civil Hydrography Program (CHP), administered by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) subcontracted by Meritaito.

Operating two different unmanned vessels, 4DOcean and XOCEAN completed surveys of multiple nearshore locations between December 2018 and March 2019.

The use of unmanned vessels offers significant benefits including safety with operators remaining onshore, efficiency with 24/7 operations and environmental with ultra-low emissions which together leads to significant economic savings.

Duncan Mallace, Managing Director of 4DOcean, said, “These were ground-breaking surveys as both ASVs were operated independently, without a mothership but with monitoring and watch-keeping from the shore 24/7. The unmanned vessels were used to map the shallow uncharted waters, while a manned vessel completed the deeper areas. A normal single survey team was used to collect and process data from both unmanned vessels.”

James Ives, CEO, XOCEAN, said, “We’re delighted to have supported 4DOcean in the delivery of bathymetric data for the CHP program. Our platform has proven to provide a safe and cost-effective way to map the seabed over extended durations.”

(Photo: XOCEAN)