Autonomous, unmanned ship to make transatlantic crossing

maxlimer

The USV Maxlimer, a ship with no crew and no pilot, is preparing to embark on a historic ocean voyage

The vessel will attempt the world’s first unmanned transatlantic crossing when it sets off from Canada early next year, bound for the south of England.

SEA-KIT International, the team behind the USV Maxlimer, recently won the $7 million Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE for their innovative unmanned surface vessel. It operates autonomously on the open seas by following GPS signals, and when it’s in a crowded port it can be controlled remotely.

The 12-metre autonomous ship has a range of 12,000 nautical miles and can endure more than 200 days at sea, meaning that it can carry out longer tasks without regard for a human crew. The ship can devote more space to equipment, and more time to research, mapping the sea bed and conducting repairs to off-shore rigs. 


It’s also much more environmentally friendly than a manned vessel. Speaking to the Daily Beast, Neil Tinmouth, chief operating officer of SEA-KIT, said that their ship uses “less than five percent of the fuel required to operate a standard ocean-going vessel…This is a game-changer when it comes to the carbon footprint and environmental impact of these operations.”

Autonomous vehicles are making significant strides of late. Our roads are becoming increasingly compatible with driverless vehicles, enabled by the burgeoning 5G roll-out and growing popularity of electric vehicles. Many companies are also investing in the development and manufacture of driverless, flying taxis. The push for autonomy on land, in the air and at sea, is increasing in momentum, and innovations like SEA-KIT’s USV Maxlimer are breaking new ground and leading the charge.

This year, the ship has already conducted off-shore pipeline inspections and hauled cargo, giving the team the opportunity to test the vessel in different scenarios. With a 2 1/2 ton carrying capacity, an array of sensors and an onboard UAV drone submarine, the USV Maxlimer is a versatile ship with a host of potential applications. 

In the future, autonomous unmanned surface vessels could play a pivotal role in oil-spill cleanups, vital repair works to off-shore rigs, sea-bed mapping and haulage of cargo in dangerous stretches of water.

An image of Autonomous, Autonomy, Autonomous, unmanned ship to make transatlantic crossing

Luke Conrad

Technology & Marketing Enthusiast

Switching from monolithic web apps to microservices

Jon Hewines • 08th June 2023

Unlocking value in existing applications is highly desirable for CTOs, and one of the most effective way of doing so is to make the switch from monolithic architecture to microservices. It’s not a straightforward task, but the benefits can be huge.

BT launches 5G immersive spaces

Alex Foster • 26th May 2023

New connected spaces provide fully immersive experiences by combining interactive, 360° video content – complete with lights, sounds and smells – compatible with Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR)

What are tomorrow’s cloud leaders thinking about today?

David Devine • 25th May 2023

Organisations today – from end-users to channel companies and industry groups – are all working to optimize their use of cloud technologies. Although there are increasing numbers of businesses seeing cloud’s benefits, and diminishing minorities operating on-premises, there are nonetheless hurdles that are common to all. OVHcloud’s annual conference at the London Stadium on June...

Job creation and learning from China

Arnold Ma • 22nd May 2023

With the barrage of negative headlines, however, it’s often easy to overlook how the introduction of and advances in new technologies can boost the economy by opening up job opportunities. And with reports of unemployment on the rise, as the UK’s economy struggles for growth momentum, this is more welcome news.