🌎 SeaTrac’s USV SP-48 completes 800 nm mission in the Gulf of Mexico

USA-based SeaTrac Systems, Inc. (SeaTrac), in collaboration with the Woods Hole Group (WHG), successfully completed a 21 day over the horizon, deployment of SeaTrac’s SP-48 solar powered USV in the Gulf of Mexico. The USV travelled over 800 nautical miles in 3 weeks, operated 24/7, and navigated strong ocean currents (> 2 knots) as it conducted a mission to map and monitor the Loop Current using an Teledyne’s ADCP.

🎯 The goal of the mission was to evaluate the ability of the SP-48 to conduct survey work that has traditionally relied on large (>170’) conventional vessels that are expensive, carbon intensive, and keep crews at sea for up to 60 days at a time. The data these vessels collect are vital for Oil and Gas stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico, and thus, the ability to perform this type of data collection with a solar powered USV (or fleet of USVs) would lower the cost and environmental impact of this critical monitoring activity.

The mission was run from the SeaTrac remote operations center in Marblehead, MA where the piloting team leveraged SeaTrac’s custom control software and the onboard systems for enhanced situational awareness.

🎤 “SeaTrac’s system successfully made several passes into currents greater than 1.5 knots, demonstrating a key milestone for USVs to detect strong currents at the edge of the Loop Current without losing their maneuverability. The real time data quality compared favorably to data collected from traditional vessel mounted surveys for the sea state conditions encountered during the mission,” says Jill Storie, EddyWatch and SurveyWatch Program Manager at Woods Hole Group.

🎤 “SeaTrac is excited to have demonstrated our ability to operate over the horizon for extended periods of time in a challenging environment like the Loop Current, where sustainable, regenerative, and storable power for propulsion is required to navigate the ocean currents reliably. The team is planning to get back out into the Gulf in the coming months to test and better understand the operational limitations of the system (sea state),” notes SeaTrac Operations Director Hobie Boeschenstein.

📃📷 Source: SeaTrac