This week, Fugro announced the first commercial contract for its Blue Eclipse® uncrewed surface vessel (USV).For the first time in its history, Norway’s MAREANO will use USV technology to acquire seabed mapping
This week, Fugro announced the first commercial contract for its Blue Eclipse® uncrewed surface vessel (USV).
For the first time in its history, Norway’s MAREANO will use USV technology to acquire seabed mapping data for the Norwegian Hydrographic Service.
The Blue Eclipse®, the largest USV in Fugro’s fleet, will survey over 675 square kilometers in the North Sea, with water depths ranging from 90 to 250 meters.
Equipped with advanced high-resolution, high-density multibeam echo sounders and sub-bottom profiler data acquisition systems, the USV will gather comprehensive datasets, including bathymetry, water column data, acoustic backscatter data and sub-bottom profiler data to understand the seabed’s topography and geology.
A key advantage of using the Blue Eclipse® is its significantly reduced fuel consumption – up to 90 % less than traditional survey vessels.
Controlled from Fugro’s remote operations center in Aberdeen, the USV’s long endurance and real-time data transfer capabilities will ensure efficient operations and reduce potential delays in the challenging North Sea environment, factors crucial for the success of the MAREANO program.
The Blue Eclipse® is the start of Fugro’s next generation of USVs. At 18 meters long, it is significantly longer than its 9 and 12-meter predecessors.
The USV
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