Technology enables remotely operated vessel

Seawork 11th - 13th June 2024	Speed@Seawork 10th June 2024	Commercial Marine Network Conferences

The 25th edition of Europe’s largest commercial marine and workboat exhibition, provides businesses the opportunity to showcase their services, equipment, vessels and supplies to an international audience.	Speed@Seawork on Monday 10 June in Cowes offers a sector specific event that showcases fast vessels operating at high speed for security interventions and Search & Rescue.	The Commercial Marine Network, in partnership with Seawork and Maritime Journal, introduce Series 3 of ‘Get set for Workboat 2050’. An online conference series of expert panels navigating the waters of decarbonisation compliance and looking at practical applications across the workboat industry.
Visit the Seawork Website	Speed@Seawork on the Seawork Website	View the Conferences on Maritime Journal

A fully redundant and cyber secure satellite communication system has been installed on the first testbed of a remotely operated offshore support vessel.

SeaOwl successfully demonstrated the concept to strategic partners including French energy major Total in early September

Marlink is providing a special purpose highly resilient satellite network solution for the Remotely Operated Service at Sea (ROSS) project developed by offshore services operator SeaOwl.

SeaOwl successfully demonstrated the concept to strategic partners including French energy major Total in early September. The ROSS project aims to bring down the cost of operations by remotely controlling a vessel from shore, initially in the offshore sector with potential application to other civilian and military craft.

The project has focused first on achieving the regulatory acceptance needed to operate without crew onboard. This has involved close work with France’s Directorate of Maritime Affairs in order to secure the navigation license necessary for a demonstration voyage.

Marlink and SeaOwl held several engineering workshops to create a highly resilient and redundant connectivity and control system comprising a Sealink VSAT system with three antennas, dual satellite feeds and dual below decks equipment. The system features a unique customized dashboard interface for the ROSS system to monitor link key performance indicators including latency, jitter and throughput.

SeaOwl was founded three years ago by former merchant navy officer Xavier Genin, in partnership with state environmental promotion body ADEME which financed 50% of the Euro4m R&D investment. With regulatory approval in place SeaOwl plans to make its first vessel orders and ultimately build around 20 remotely operated, electrically powered ships between 2023 and 2028, which will be used for underwater inspections of oil and gas fields and windfarms.

“Unlike an autonomous vessel, the vessel’s crew will pilot the ship from land to achieve cost savings and minimise a range of operational risks safer operations,” says SeaOwl CEO Xavier Genin. “There are already remote-controlled or autonomous military ships, but we are the first to obtain the ‘grey card’ which gives us permission to sail as a merchant navy vessel.”

By Jake Frith