British Firm Launches Fully-Autonomous Oceanus12 USV

British firm Zero USV has launched its Oceanus12 unmanned surface vessel (USV), marking a step closer to offering the world’s first charter fleet of fully-autonomous USVs.

The launch of the company’s inaugural Oceanus12 took place earlier in February at Manor Marine in Portland in Dorset.

The fully equipped vessel is now ready for commissioning and integration trials from Zero USV’s home port of Plymouth.

The launching of the first Oceanus12 represents the culmination of nearly 18 months of design, engineering and build effort from the team at Zero USV which has been built on the success of the Mayflower 400’s transatlantic autonomous voyage - a milestone achieved through the same inter-company collaborations between Zero USV’s parent company MSubs, their non-profit Promare, and sister marine software company MarineAI.

Following the launch of the first vessel in the Oceanus12 series, the company is preparing to complete the second vessel in late March, along with vessels three and four shortly after.

The Oceanus12, designed for long distance over-the-horizon operations, has also been designed to be mission agnostic, allowing a wide range of potential applications, from surveys and monitoring of critical assets to safety, geophysical surveys, border control, fisheries, defense and more.

Since the ‘charter’