Jan De Nul Group has ordered Maritime Robotic’s hybrid Mariner unmanned surface vehicle (USV) as the first step towards unmanned and autonomous offshore survey operations.
The vessel, Named Beluga 01, will sail under the Luxembourg flag and be deployed for worldwide hydrographical and environmental surveys on marine and offshore construction projects.
Jan De Nul said it is the first dredging contractor to deploy a USV in marine and offshore conditions.
Beluga 01 is based on Maritime Robotics’ Mariner class USV, which has a proven record for mobility and seaworthiness for data acquisition under rough conditions.
Jan De Nul said it fully commits to improved safety and operational control during its survey activities, reduced carbon emissions, and more efficient data acquisition.
Jan De Nul Group survey manager for offshore projects Mike Lycke said: “For several years, we have been studying different autonomous systems.
“Our primary focus has always been to build up our expertise on autonomy for maritime survey operations.
“The global circumstances in 2020 and a maturing USV market enabled us to take it to the next step and order a turnkey vessel for our marine and offshore projects.
“We found the perfect partner in Maritime Robotics, a leading provider of innovative unmanned solutions for maritime operations and data acquisition.”
Maritime Robotics chief operating officer Eirik Hovstein said: “We are very proud to have been selected as supplier for Jan De Nul Group.
“We stand for in-house developed systems, with sustainability and autonomy in mind, in close collaboration with civilian, governmental and military partners.
“We look forward to collaborating with Jan De Nul on the further development of the Beluga 01.
“Together, we will explore the future of unmanned solutions to ensure safer, greener and more cost-effective data acquisitions at sea.”
The Beluga 01 is equipped with a fully redundant hybrid propulsion system. The prime source of propulsion is a diesel engine that is mechanically coupled to the water jet.
Alternatively, the vessel can be operated in full electrical mode.
The additional electrical Torqeedo propulsion, installed parallel to the main propulsion, can manoeuvre the vessel in sensitive marine areas.
There is also a range extender module to top up the batteries which will operate for over 12 hours.
This system has lower emissions than the main engine, which could also be used as an alternator for the batteries.
Furthermore, the electrical propulsion acts as redundancy for the main engine in case of a failure, or vice versa.
The Beluga 01 is capable of operating in up to sea state five, although this usually precludes gathering any useful survey data.
The vessel can survive in up to sea state seven and only needs 80 cm of water to operate in.