Nauticus Robotics, a Houston, Texas-based developer of subsea and surface robotic services using autonomy software, has confirmed the initial production run of a new fleet of 40 autonomous vessels that will operate in pairs.
The craft will be deployed in multiple offshore industries serving applications ranging from subsea maintenance and intervention to data collection activities. These first sets of vessels will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022, with the remainder being fulfilled by the end of 2024.
Nauticus is currently planning regional operations within the Gulf of Mexico, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. These regional bases will provide local subject matter expertise and logistics.
The company said that eventually, it plans to have operational bases around the world, strategically located and equipped with local remote operation centres and service teams.
The surface aspect of the fleet is an 18-metre, optionally crewed autonomous surface vessel (ASV) that supports the launch, recovery and real-time operations of its autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) counterpart. In each tandem pair, the ASV will ferry the full-electric AUV to and from the worksite as well as support battery recharges and provide the communications link from the local remote operations centre for supervised autonomous operations.
Additional technical and operational support can be provided from Nauticus' Houston-based global remote operations centre.
