XOCEAN unmanned surface vessel carries out offshore survey work

A vessel, remotely controlled from shore, was launched from the Suffolk coast last weekend to carry out survey work for Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm. This is a first for the offshore wind sector and is a joint venture between SSE Renewables and innogy.

The XO-450 Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV), owned and operated by XOCEAN, carried out seabed surveys on seven of the turbines at the 140-turbine wind farm, located 23 kilometres off the UK coast.

The unmanned vessel is 4.5 metres, weighs 750kg and is monitored and controlled via a satellite connection by a team at an onshore control centre.

Throughout the survey, the data collected was monitored in real-time by experts located in the UK. Validating the data collection before the vessel departs, the work locations demonstrate the flexible and collaborative nature of this new technology. It enables industry experts to have direct access to real time data, from any location.

The benefits of XOCEAN’s USVs include increased safety with operators remaining onshore, increased efficiency with 24/7 operations and, from an environmental perspective, they have ultra-low emissions which also leads to economic savings.

Jeremy Williamson, SSE Renewables Head of Operations, says: “We are constantly looking for innovative ways in which we can operate our fleet of renewables assets. XOCEAN’s vessel will allow us to carry out our work in a more efficient and, most importantly for SSE Renewables and our partners innogy, in the safest way possible. We’re really interested to see how this sort of work can help improve our industry and look forward to working with XOCEAN in future.”

James Ives, CEO of XOCEAN, comments: “Our USV platform has demonstrated itself to be a safe, reliable and low carbon solution for the collection of ocean data. We are delighted to be working with SSE and innogy on this ground-breaking project.”

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