Marine geophysical company PXGEO has ordered more than 20 autonomous underwater vehicles from Saab.
The order, for Saab's Sabertooth autonomous underwater vehicle, is worth SEK 620 million (currently around $57,1 million) and deliveries will take place 2023-2025.
"The order includes more than 20 Sabertooth vehicles, which makes this the largest Sabertooth order to date," Saab said.
These will form part of PXGEO’s MantaRay solution for offshore seismic data acquisition and will be used for deployment and recovery of equipment during ocean bottom surveys.
According to PXGEO, MantaRay is an Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) handling system using Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (HAUV) capable of deploying and recovering nodes" significantly faster and with better precision than traditional methods."
"MantaRay allows for complete survey design flexibility providing optimal imaging to eliminate geological risk. Autonomous, tether-less operation brings unparalleled efficiency and pre-programmed autonomous mission planning ensures fast and accurate node placement. MantaRay minimizes seabed impact and reduces crew and operational exposure while bringing results faster to the client," PXGEO said.
“Together with PXGEO, we are taking the step to make offshore seismic data acquisition fully autonomous. This is a great achievement, made possible by our combined expertise,” says Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Dynamics.
"Saab’s Sabertooth is a powerful and versatile underwater vehicle. With capability to perform operations to depths of up to 3,000 metres, it is ideal for seabed investigations," Saab said.
“We are excited to bring the efficiency and reliability of the autonomous Sabertooth platform to the offshore seismic industry. The combined efforts between PXGEO’s engineering team and Saab in the development of MantaRay will revolutionize our industry and finally unlock the full potential of ocean bottom node seismic in line with PXGEO’s commitment to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” says Tony Bowman, CEO of PXGEO.