During Ocean Business 2019, Kongsberg Maritime unveiled its new Sounder USV System, which is designed and built to provide the “highest possible standard of data acquisition,” Kongsberg says.

Shortly after unveiling the new Sounder USV System, Kongsberg announced that it had signed a contract to deliver the Sounder USV System to the largest fishing company in Peru, TASA.

Described as a multipurpose platform, the Sounder USV System is designed to work across various market segments, including survey and fishery duties. The USV was developed as a joint venture with Norsafe AS, which provides marine life saving systems for the merchant and offshore markets.

“More and more businesses, from many categories within the maritime industry, are starting to see the vast and comparatively untapped potential of USVs as a means of autonomously and cost-effectively harvesting enormous quantities of high-quality data,” explains Stene Førsund, VP Subsea Sales, Kongsberg Maritime.

“And with the highly adaptable Sounder USV System we’re poised to make the widespread availability of top-end data acquisition technology into an affordable and user-friendly reality.”

To deliver optimal hydroacoustic data quality, efficiency and productivity, the Sounder USV was developed from the keel upwards, Kongsberg notes. The company’s K-MATE autonomous surface vehicle control system manages operation of the USV.

Developed in partnership with FFI, the Defence Research Establishment in Norway, the K-MATE system can follow survey patterns, autonomously follow AUVs or simply track a mothership.

Kongsberg adds that the system provides autonomous, supervised and direct control capabilities that are compliant with the latest safety regulations and operational guidance in the USV industry.

The Sounder USV System can be put to work with equal effectiveness across a range of applications to suit the requirements of specific market sectors. The USV can be equipped with a variety of Simrad sensors including SX90 and ES80 fishery sonars, as well as Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam echosounders for mapping and HiPAP positioning and communications systems for LBL (long baseline) and AUV support.

Other sensors can also be integrated, while rapid payload change can be effected as both the moon pool in the base of the hull and the 19 inch rack hardware are removable.

Operation from ship or shore is described as “brisk and straightforward,” thanks to the Sounder USV System’s compatibility with launch and recovery systems. The system has an endurance of up to 20 days at four knots, providing increased productivity at a lower cost. A worldwide support network also provides owners and operators with additional peace of mind, Kongsberg says.