Norway-based Kongsberg Maritime’s Sensor and Robotics division said Wednesday it had secured over NOK 450M (~$44 million) in contracts for HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) in the second quarter of 2022.
"The order income consists of a healthy mix of recurring business with existing customers and new customers that will utilize the HUGIN platform in their operations," Kongsberg said, without going into details on who the clients were exactly.
"The use of AUVs is a vital piece in the technology puzzle that must be solved to enable sustainable oceans. The vehicles can operate autonomously over a long period of time and collect environmental data, performing multiple survey operations for multiple applications in a cost-effective way compared with conventional surveys," Kongsberg said.
"Since the first dive of the iconic HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) prototype on 7 March 1993, Kongsberg Maritime has been spearheading the development of the sector, and with the latest release of HUGIN Edge, Kongsberg Maritime offers complementary AUV solutions for the rising AUV Market," Kongsberg Maritime said.
To remind, Kongsberg unveiled the HUGIN Edge at Oceanology in London in March. The AUV is designed for deployment from unmanned surface vessels (USVs), small surface vessels, and from shore. Measuring less than 4 meters long, HUGIN Edge, the newest member of the HUGIN family of AUVs, weighs approximately 300kg. Kongsberg says the AUV is packaged with the latest battery technology to provide more than 24 hours of operation at depths of up to 1,000 meters. Read More Here.
Commenting on the recent AUV contract awards, Kongsberg Maritime, SVP Stene Førsund said: "These latest contracts are a true acknowledgment of a team effort over many years, and it shows that Kongsberg Maritime offers the right technology and solutions for the growing AUV market. We see that customers put AUVs into operation in many applications, and we believe that Autonomous Underwater Vehicles will be used in even more applications in the future."
According to Kongsberg, the HUGIN range of autonomous underwater vehicles is characterized by great maneuverability and high accuracy of stabilization.
"Hydrodynamic shape, accurate instruments, and excellent battery capacity means these AUVs can be optimized for a variety of industries from oil & gas and renewables to defense and research," the company said.
"Our expansion to a wider portfolio of HUGIN AUV models has been well received by the market. In addition to the underlying and increasing demand for marine robots we are now also addressing new applications and by this increasing the addressable market with our wider portfolio. Our robotic solutions are more sustainable, safe and cost-effective than traditional methods within the ocean space domain”, says SVP Marine Robotics, Thomas Nygaard, Kongsberg Maritime.
Over time, Kongsberg Maritime said, the range of HUGIN AUVs has evolved to go deeper, longer, and carry a larger payload of sensitive data-collecting sensors which has made HUGIN "the most successful commercial off-the-shelf autonomous underwater vehicle ever made."