Acua Ocean wins UK support for new 145ft uncrewed vessel

ACUA Ocean and its partners have secured UK government backing to advance a 145 foot multi role uncrewed offshore support vessel under the Department for Transport’s CMDC programme, the consortium stated.

The group includes Houlder, Ad Hoc Marine Designs, Trident Marine and the University of Southampton.

The project, known as MROS, has moved from initial funding awarded in May into tank testing at the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute and the Wolfson Unit. The hybrid electric vessel is being developed for autonomous or optionally crewed operations, with prototype designs examining methanol as a potential fuel and comparing it with hydrogen, ammonia and diesel for efficiency, maintainability and emissions.

The design draws on ACUA Ocean’s fourteen metre Pioneer class USV, which the company says provided a proven systems testbed. Pioneer is described in the release as the first uncrewed vessel to meet the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency’s Workboat Code 3, and its data is being used to inform the larger platform. MROS adopts a small waterplane area twin hull configuration to reduce motion and improve stability in higher sea states.

The consortium says the vessel is intended for tasks that require persistence in demanding offshore conditions. Planned specifications include DP1 station keeping, a range of 2500 nautical miles, more than twenty days endurance and a sprint speed above twenty knots. The design includes an eighty tonne payload capacity and a moonpool with space for twin launch and recovery systems for underwater assets such as ROVs and XUUVs. Payload bays are arranged for ISO standard container footprints to simplify logistics.

ACUA Ocean expects to announce partnerships with systems developers to expand the suite of mission payloads for both Pioneer and MROS. Chief Executive Neil Tinmouth said “the MROS project builds on ACUA Ocean’s proven ability to deploy proven and certified vessels” and described the design as offering capability and cost benefits for offshore users.

John Kecsmar of Ad Hoc Marine Designs said “we firmly believe in this larger platform going beyond the norm and setting new standards of offshore operability.” Rupert Hare of Houlder said the project aims to turn credible autonomy into offshore capability and noted that Houlder will lead work on launch and recovery concepts as well as hull optimisation and integration of alternative fuels.

Lee Sidaway of Trident Marine Electrical said the company is contributing electrical design and sees the programme as part of a shared effort to develop autonomous and hybrid systems. Professor Stephen Turnock of the University of Southampton said the effort aligns with emerging requirements for minimally crewed, clean fuelled ships and highlighted the institute’s work in naval architecture, autonomous systems and future fuels.

Founded in 2021, ACUA Ocean develops uncrewed surface vessels for ocean monitoring and data collection and is positioning the MROS design as a scalable platform for long endurance offshore operations.