Saab Seaeaye, a company building underwater remotely operated vehicles, has agreed to sell 10 of its newly launched electric work remotely operated vehicles (eWROV), including further options, to marine robotics company, Ocean Infinity.
"The eWROV is the latest addition to Saab Seaeye’s underwater portfolio used across a variety of offshore energy sectors, ocean science and defense. It is the culmination of four years of research and development, resulting in the largest and most powerful ROV compared to those designed for light work and observation tasks," Saab Seaeye said.
"Saab Seaeye is among the first companies to produce a full-size electric work-class vehicle that can deliver the same overall performance as a 250 horsepower hydraulic vehicle while offering a lower lifetime cost and reduced environmental impact," the company added.
Ocean Infinity is developing the world’s largest fleet of uncrewed robotic vessels - the Armada - and will be the eWROV’s launch customer. No financial details on the transaction were disclosed.
"The eWROV will play its part in Ocean Infinity’s mission to use innovative technology to transform operations at sea, enabling people and the planet to thrive. Armada is set to revolutionize the maritime industry, delivering sustainable services that offer up to 90% emissions savings over a conventional vessel performing a similar offshore task," Saab Seaeye said.
According to the manufacturer, the eWROV‘s electrification is the key to its improved performance and sustainability-related attributes.
"As well as being more efficient, electric systems use little or no oil, making the eWROV significantly more environmentally friendly than equivalent hydraulic work-class systems. Benefitting from our iCON intelligent system architecture the eWROV is capable of fully autonomous operation," Saab Seaeye added.
“Ocean Infinity’s order is the largest in Saab Seaeye’s history and highlights the need for intelligent, adaptable, and flexible underwater robotics. The eWROV is more efficient and cleaner than the hydraulic alternatives and it also requires less human involvement and will play an important role in future autonomous vessel fleets. We are confident the eWROV will serve Ocean Infinity well,” says Magnus Lewis-Olsson, Chairman of Saab UK.
“Lessening the environmental impact of operations at sea is the main driver behind the development of Armada. The all-electric eWROV, in addition to our already low-emission vessels, will enable us to support our customers with infrastructure integrity projects in the most environmentally responsible way. The eWROVs will form an important part of our Armada architecture; through integration with our dynamic payload controller, we’ll be able to deploy and operate them anywhere in the world from our Remote Control Centres,” says Dan Hook, Chief Technology Officer, Ocean Infinity.