Peruvian fishing company TASA acquires first USV for fisheries from Kongsberg

🎯 Peruvian fishing company TASA have today assumed ownership of the fishing industry’s first unmanned surface vessel (USV) for cost effective fish finding and oceanographic and marine resource monitoring. The Sounder USV from Kongsberg Maritime will be equipped with state-of-the-art acoustic technology including two echosounders, a low frequency sonar and a CTD sensor. Following the final sea trials in June in Norway, the vehicle enters Peruvian waters in September this year, and will start its mission to improve efficiency of capture operations and strengthen data acquisition capabilities to improve management of the available biomass.

⚙️ The vessel, named Guardian del Mar, has a length of 8 meters and the capability of reaching a speed of 12 knots. She does not require crew on board and her operating costs will represent about 0.6% compared to an average vessel of the industrial fishing fleet. With a navigation autonomy of more than 400 hours, the USV completes its mission objectives autonomously under human supervision and will gradually be upgraded with developments on situational awareness and collision avoidance. During the initial phase of implementing this new technology in their daily operations, TASA will gain valuable experience and training by supervising the USV from a nearby mothership. The Sounder USV includes autonomous capabilities such as anti-grounding, automatic object detection, CTD casts and much more.

🎤 “We are proud to bring this technological innovation to Peru, as the leading producer of fishmeal and fish oil. Although it has the purpose of improving the efficiency of our operations, it will also allow us to further strengthen the sustainability approach in the sector by being able to share valuable oceanographic data for scientific research and adequate fishing management in our country”, commented Gonzalo de Romaña, CEO of TASA.

🎤 Bjørn Jalving, Senior Vice President Technology, Kongsberg Maritime said, “KONGSBERG is proud to be a part of the Peruvian work for sustainable and efficient fisheries. TASA has shown a future-oriented approach by integrating the Sounder USV in their operations. We look forward to close cooperation when the vehicle is set in operation”.

📃📷 Source: Kongsberg Maritime