Sonardyne were delighted to provide the venue for the Forcys’ MAKE UK Defence event on Thursday 12th October.
Approximately 40 guests from various defence related suppliers joined Forcys, representatives from MAKE UK Defence and Nigel ‘Frankie’ Vaughan from the Ministry of Defence, for a morning of presentations, factory tours and networking opportunities. Make UK Defence is the UK defence trade association. They support the UK’s defence manufacturers and the wider defence supply chain.
Welcoming the guests, Forcys Commercial Director Ioseba Tena outlined the many capabilities of the Covelya Group of companies and how Forcys works with them to solve their customers’ challenges.
Emphasising the subsea autonomous expertise across the companies, Ioseba highlighted the importance of underwater technology in the future of defence. Sister company Wavefront’s Sentinel intruder detection system is already the most deployed sonar detection system across the world.
Forcys is the latest addition to the Covelya group, introduced to focus on the UK, US and Australian defence markets and their unique requirements. Ioseba remarked that although they were, at present, a small team they stand beside 500 other people and a wealth of marine technology expertise across the group companies.
[blockquote author=”Ioseba Tena, Commercial Director, Forcys”]”The underwater battlespace is becoming increasingly distributed and reliant on uncrewed underwater vehicles. Forcys is uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of a networked battlespace and the enhanced situational awareness necessary for the Royal Navy and its allies to maintain their dominance.”[/blockquote]
Nigel ‘Frankie’ Vaughan then gave an update on behalf of the MoD on the AUKUS Pillar 2 advanced defence capabilities that are to be delivered by 2024/25. AUKUS is the UK, Australia and United States trilateral defence and security partnership to help sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Pillar 2 is looking to the UK marine technology industry to help deliver these capabilities.
After the presentations, guests were given guided tours of our extensive facilities at Blackbushe, including the factory and test areas where product managers were on hand to give demonstrations. The event was rounded off with the opportunity to network over an Indian street food lunch.
Reflecting on the event, Ioseba Tena commented; “The underwater battlespace is becoming increasingly distributed and reliant on uncrewed underwater vehicles. Forcys is uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of a networked battlespace and the enhanced situational awareness necessary for the Royal Navy and its allies to maintain their dominance. We recognise that collaboration is essential to achieving this goal, and we were delighted to host members of Make UK Defence, potential partners in this endeavour. We also appreciated Nigel ‘Frankie’ Vaughan’s update on AUKUS Pillar 2, an initiative we are eager to support.”
Sonardyne Inc are delighted to announce the appointment of Aquatic Sensors as resellers as part of their growth in the US marine technology market.
Making the announcement whilst exhibiting at OCEANS 2023 in Mississippi, Sonardyne welcomed Aquatic Sensors as their latest US resellers.
Having worked with Sonardyne sister company Chelsea Technologies for over 20 years, Aquatic Sensors bring a wealth of industry knowledge and experience of the environmental water monitoring community across the USA and Canada. Their initial focus will be on the Origin 600 and providing the latest intelligent ADCP technology to the North American market.
Sonardyne Inc Sales Manager Kim Swords and Aquatic Sensors Sales and Marketing Director Andrea Zappe.
Commenting on the appointment, Sonardyne Inc Vice President Simon Reeves said “We’re thrilled to welcome Aquatic Sensors onboard as our North American resellers. Having worked with Chelsea Technologies for so many years, their knowledge of the industry is second to none, as is their experience of the North American market. We are confident that they will provide our customers with the best possible support and service.”
[blockquote author=”Andrea Zappe. Sales and Marketing Director – Aquatic Sensors”]”Aquatic Sensors is excited to partner with Sonardyne and to offer their cutting-edge environmental monitoring technologies to our customers in the USA and Canada. Having partnered with their sister company, Chelsea Technologies, over the past twenty years; we have had a strong awareness and appreciation of the level of quality that Sonardyne brings to the industry. From next-generation ADCPs and acoustic releases, to high-quality USBLs and DVLs, we are excited to assist our marine, coastal, and freshwater customers in new and innovative ways.”[/blockquote]
Marine technology company, Sonardyne is expanding its reach by appointing MSDS Marine as their latest UK reseller.
MSDS Marine are a specialist marine and coastal contractor specialising in providing scientific and archaeological support across a variety of sectors including; offshore development, archaeological and ecological surveys, and asset monitoring and recording. Their work includes the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), divers, and geophysical and hydrographic survey and they offer a complete package from planning to execution, and subsequent processing, visualisation, and interpretation. MSDS Marine are now able to provide additional support to their customers through the supply of the latest marine technology from Sonardyne, not only by continuing to use the technology during projects, but also as an official re-seller.
MSDS Marine rely on technology for the majority of our underwater operations, with reliability being crucial to works in the marine environment. As a company we have used Sonardyne acoustic tracking for a number of years, tracking divers, ROVs, and geophysical equipment. Not only have we found the technology to be incredibly reliable and easy to use, but we have always been very impressed with the level of support that Sonardyne offer. We are proud to be able to continue to promote the systems as a re-seller, using our firsthand experience in the scientific and archaeological sector to do so. – Mark James, MSDS Marine Operations and Technical Manager.
MSDS Marine have used Sonardyne technology for a number of years, and the SCOUT, Micro and Mini Ranger USBL systems have played an important in the recent investigations of the archaeologically significant designated sites of the Rooswijk (sunk 1740), the London (sunk 1665), and the Bronze Bell wreck (sunk in the 18th Century). The precise, reliable positioning, along with the ease of use, have allowed for the accurate mapping and survey of the sites.
“It’s great to have MSDS Marine as resellers for our shallow water USBL systems. It is quite unusual to have a reseller who also uses the equipment to the extent that MSDS Marine do. They bring a wealth of experience and expertise that will allow them to support customers from initial enquiry through to frontline support. We’re delighted to have such a strong advocate on board as a reselling partner.” Duncan Rigg, Sonardyne Sales Manager
Micro-Ranger 2 system and ROV, ready for deployment on an MSDS Marine operation.
An MSDS Marine diver prepares to dive holding a Nano transponder.
Over the coming weeks, our Marine Robotics and Offshore Renewable Energy Business Development Managers Aidan Thorn and Mike Ellis will be delivering a series of blogs and a white paper on the use of marine robotics for planning, monitoring, communications and positioning in offshore wind farms.
To begin the series, we look at how robotics are currently used in the marine environment and consider how they might be utilised in future offshore wind projects.
Floating offshore wind farms, maintained by robots – pipedream or possibility?
It’s certainly possible, but how close are we to realising it? With wind overtaking gas as the primary source of UK electricity for the first time in May 2023 (figures from Imperial College London), and with most of that generated offshore, the demand for cost effective renewable energy in the UK is set to increase further.
It’s a global trend. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) Global Wind Report 2023 predicts that 2023 will be the first year to see more than 100 GW of new wind energy capacity added globally. Whilst the majority of this is onshore production, the offshore share of the market is steadily increasing.
Predicted Global Offshore Wind Installations (GW) 2022-2027 (GWEC Global Wind Report 2023)
According to GWEC, the top five markets for new wind installations in 2022 were China, the USA, Brazil, Germany and Sweden – accounting for 71% of global installations of both on and offshore wind farms. When it comes to offshore energy production, 99% of the global offshore wind installations are in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. With land often at a premium, surely the rest of the world will follow suit and look offshore for their energy, but at what cost?
According to the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, about 40% of a fixed offshore wind farm’s cost is underwater. As the industry looks towards floating wind farms to meet demand, it’s a safe assumption these costs will rise when we consider that in the oil and gas industry typically 70% of the installation and maintenance costs are spent on the underwater floating assets.
“We need to start thinking beyond infrastructure in its current form to one which enables cost effective, remote and continuous inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) strategy through the use of marine robotics.” Mike Ellis, Business Development Manager – Offshore Renewable Energy, Sonardyne
Surveying and constructing
With escalating operational costs and growing concerns over the environmental impact the default of using large vessels for site surveys is beginning to change, especially in the consenting phase of offshore wind farm construction. By using marine robotics for seabed surveys, we can build in lower cost, reduced carbon and increased reliability. If we implement an infrastructure to support effective monitoring and marine robotics at the start of a wind farm lifecycle before operations begin, operators can realise project savings much earlier.
“Over the last decades, we’ve seen some examples of poor geophysical and geotechnical data acquisition. As wind farms go deeper for floating platforms, deep-water autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV’s) that fly at low altitude for high-level resolution bathymetric and geophysical data should be considered. For example, the Morro Bay floating wind farm site in California will be between 1000 m and 1250 m deep, a surface vessel with high-res capabilities to cover a site of this acreage would prove vastly more expensive compared to mission planning an AUV from a small local port.” Mike Ellis, Business Development Manager – Offshore Renewable Energy, Sonardyne
Several developers are already using Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) with our products for site characterisation and bathymetric surveys. Here, USVs can harvest current, wave and other scientific measurements from our Origin Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) using one of the Ultra Short Base Line (USBL) systems or modems as a communication gateway. At the same time, the USBL system can also be used for positioning any towed equipment from the vehicle such as a magnetometer or side-scan sonar during a hydrographic survey.
“We’ve already been working with USV developers to show how marine robotics can be used for rapid data harvesting. For example, HydroSurv’s REAV-40 USV was fitted with our Mini-Ranger 2 USBL system to demonstrate rapid environmental collection to a group of stakeholders in the Valorous floating offshore wind project. Data harvesting while conducting a survey is a great way to save money and add to the information value chain.” Aidan Thorn, Business Development Manager – Marine Robotics, Sonardyne
During the construction phase of an offshore wind farm, it is important to ensure the area is clear of any hazards before running cables and piling in monopiles, so Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) will typically conduct surveys for Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). However, we now have more conversations about USVs with onboard ROVs or using towed platforms to carry out this operation.
It opens up a multitude of additional operations that could also include identifying and removing classified UXOs using our wireless Initiation Transponder 6 (IT6) (see picture and link below), piling inspection support using imaging sensors, and cable depth of burial measurement.
A small inspection class, ROV attaching the wireless IT6 to a UXO
As wind farms go over the horizon, so will the robotics
We’re already seeing an increasing number of high-endurance, long-distance AUVs, like Cellula Robotics’ Solus LR AUV and the National Oceanography Centre’s Autosub Long Range being used in the field.
These are progressively capable of lengthy inspection missions and, used in conjunction with the relevant products, are ideal for monitoring and data harvesting from sensors deployed in and around offshore wind farms. This will become increasingly useful for geophysical site surveys conducted as we see developments in deeper waters, further offshore.
Most critically however, these over-the-horizon robotics rely on accurate and reliable navigation. Using a hybrid Inertial Navigation System (INS) from our SPRINT-Nav family provides a stand-alone platform with both altitude and heading, plus continuous navigation without a GPS update. This creates a reliable secondary system in the event of a lost satellite position.
Offshore robotics 24/7?
As these vehicles become increasingly viable, so does the prospect of having field-resident AUVs. Field resident robotics can carry out routine and on-demand surveys and inspections within a wind farm without the constant need to return to a mother ship. This would allow for more efficient and cost-effective operations while also reducing the risk of human error. AUVs can be equipped with advanced sensors and cameras to collect data and monitor wind farms in real-time.
We’re already seeing several companies delivering subsea vehicle docking, for example, Modus with their Saab Sabertooth AUV’s and Oceaneering’s Freedom vehicle. These agile (six degrees of freedom) vehicles are also very well suited to floating wind farm IRM operations, as the complexity of navigating between hundreds of moorings and dynamic cables increases significantly.
“I believe having vehicles that can sense and pivot around infrastructure without an umbilical will be essential to the adoption of these systems. This technology will likely be implemented first from vessels but has a long-term future in residence. The potential benefits of this technology are immense, and it could revolutionise the way we manage and maintain wind farms in the future.” Aidan Thorn, Business Development Manager – Marine Robotics, Sonardyne
Using acoustic communications, like the USBL positioning system with high bandwidth telemetry capability, via subsea docking stations, these vehicles can be positioned and data can be offloaded. They can even download new mission plans without surfacing. But let’s discuss this further in our next blog post.
Ocean Business 2023 in April wasn’t just about celebrating the launch of our Origin ADCPs. It also saw our Head of Science, Geraint West, being awarded ‘Business Person of the Year 2023’ by the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI).
The Award recognises individuals who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial spirit, strategic business thinking and are regarded as leaders in their field. This Award also acknowledges and celebrates the personal and generous contributions by a business person and the difference their involvement makes to the Marine Science and Technology community overall.
Geraint started his maritime career 40 years ago in the Royal Navy. After leaving, he joined the National Oceanography Centre, where he oversaw the introduction of the state-of-the art research vessels RRS James Cook and RRS Discovery and was a driving force for the delivery of the Marine Robotics Innovation Centre.
“Truly an embodiment of the UK industry’s excellence and an all-round great guy!”
Here at Sonardyne, Geraint heads our Ocean Science team, delivering innovative ocean technologies, including the Origin ADCP, that change access to and increase capacity of ocean science research infrastructure, and works across a global community of institutes and universities on projects that range from the coast to the deep ocean.
The SMI described Geraint as “Truly an embodiment of the UK industry’s excellence and an all-round great guy!” We couldn’t agree more! Congratulations Geraint!
Geraint is pictured above receiving his award with (L-R); Tom Chant (SMI), Ryan Mowat (RS Aqua) and Emma Johnson (SMI)
Our company was founded 52 years ago on the need for improved location of divers and subsea equipment for safety purposes. This remains at the core of what we do today.
Here, the three essential elements of surface and diver interaction are covered in a series of blogs by retired Royal Navy Commander Justin Hains MBE from our sister company Forcys, providing a personal view on the challenges he faced as a serving officer in charge of diving.
These challenges are similar to those faced by many dive supervisors today and until relatively recently there was not much that could be done to lessen the risks.
Fortunately, the application of our vast marine technology and communications experience means that surface to diver interactions and safety are not just improved but also future-proofed through a ‘plug and play’ device which integrates with commercial dive computers, and rebreathers.
Follow the links below to discover how our DiveTrack products, delivered to navies through Forcys, make diving safer and more effective.
Enhancing dive performance and safety: the challenge
Enhancing dive performance and safety: operational advantage
Enhancing dive performance and safety: future proof
Newly formed specialist manned submersible services provider, AquaTitans has chosen underwater tracking systems from marine technology company Sonardyne to support underwater vehicles used by scientists, researchers and filmmakers.
The Glasgow-based company, formed by submersibles specialists Alan Green and William Arthur in 2022, will use Sonardyne’s Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning system as part of its new containerised submersible support system.
For use from small expedition vessels to large, open-decked offshore support ships, vessels of opportunity or even quaysides, the AquaTitans container concept comes with everything needed to operate submersibles. The package includes dedicated support equipment for underwater communications, recharging batteries, oxygen and air resupply, together with accurate and reliable underwater tracking.
“We’re pleased to be supporting AquaTitans in their new venture. Both Alan and William are highly experienced operators and their containerised solution will make submersible operation from vessels or even waterside locations far easier, reducing equipment set-up and integration complexities. Mini-Ranger 2 fits perfectly into that ethos.” Alan MacDonald, Sales Manager, Sonardyne.
The company’s first two 20 ft containerised systems will be used with Triton 3300/3 submersibles, three-man vehicles built by Triton Submarines that are able to carry science and research specialists to depths of 1,000m. The first delivery was made in Q1 2023.
For work with underwater platforms like submersibles, Mini-Ranger 2 offers a portable and quick to mobilise, versatile tracking and communications system. It provides submersible pilots with the confidence, accuracy and safety assurance they need on critical tasks during dives, saving valuable operational time.
It is ideal for use on vessels of opportunity and even from the quayside, offering performance without the cost and complexity of a permanently installed USBL system. It is able to track up to 10 underwater targets out to a 995 m operating range, as standard, using Sonardyne’s market-leading 6G hardware and Wideband 2 digital acoustic technology.
The operating range is extendable to 4,000 m, and, with an optional robotics pack, Mini-Ranger 2 can also provide underwater vehicle command and control.
Alan Green, who has been working with submersibles since his first job working with submarine rescue company Rumic in 2002, says Mini-Ranger 2 was an obvious choice for their containerised solution for submersible operators.
“Sonardyne’s deep-water USBL systems are deployed on a number of projects and when we spoke with the submersible pilots and operators, this was the preferred system. We didn’t need to look elsewhere. The Mini-Ranger 2 has been proven to be reliable, accurate and easy to use – all critical factors when selecting subsea equipment. With confidence in the tracking data, the pilot can quickly locate targets subsea and avoid losing valuable dive time transiting to the wrong location. It is all part of ensuring that the scientists and researchers are able to maximise their time underwater and receive the best experience possible.” Alan Green, Projects Director, AquaTitans.
A network of deep-water acoustic sensors that provides India’s coastal communities with an early warning of tsunami waves is being upgraded by marine technology company Sonardyne to extend both their endurance and capability.
Deployed at key locations in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, the network of Sonardyne’s Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPRs) is owned and operated by India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) as part of the country’s Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS).
The BPRs were first installed in 2007, as part of NIOT’s national tsunami detection system, which was conceived following the deadly Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004.
The BPRs detect the characteristic changes in water pressure (as little as 1 cm in 4,000 m depth) caused by an earthquake in the deep ocean. If a tsunami wave is detected, an alert message is transmitted up to a satellite buoy on the surface. From there, it is relayed to the national Tsunami Warning Centre onshore for comparison with recent seismic activity. If validated, a widescale alarm is raised to alert vulnerable communities.
Following a 10-year life refurbishment in 2017, the BPRs are now being upgraded to Sonardyne’s 6G hardware and Wideband 2 communications standard. The installation of low power electronics. new lower power consumption pressure sensors and doubled battery capacity of these maxi BPRs will significantly reduce maintenance visits and costs. Additionally, the acoustic telemetry signals used to transmit data to the surface will also now be fully digital, providing greater resilience to noise interference in the water column, as well as increasing bandwidth by ten-fold (from 600 bps to 6000 bps).
The first batch of upgraded BPRs arrived in India in 2022, with further batches planned for shipment in 2023. In addition, Sonardyne are also supplying a large pool of spares to maintain a continuously available TEWS capability. These include floats and fittings for the larger Maxi BPRs being supplied, as well as transceivers for the surface buoys to communicate with the BPRs. NIOT are planning to use the upgraded capability to extend the number of permanently occupied stations.
Each BPR is a customised version of Sonardyne’s Compatt transponder – a versatile subsea instrument that has a wide range of autonomous monitoring and measuring applications within offshore energy, survey and ocean science.
Sonardyne’s BPRs benefit from being small and self-contained, with no cables, exterior sensors or batteries to interface, making them easy to deploy and more reliable. These features, alongside long battery life, reliable through-water communications and Sonardyne‘s expertise in long-endurance underwater monitoring applications, are the reasons why they were chosen for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Detection System back in 2007 and continue to protect their coastal communities 16 years later.
Marine scientists have deployed two hi-tech bottom pressure recorders (BPRs) on either side of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to measure the strength of global ocean currents that drive much of the Earth’s climate.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents that transports warm surface waters from the tropics northward towards the subpolar and Arctic regions. There, the waters cool, become denser and sink before returning southward at depth. In doing so, this vast ‘conveyor belt’ movement of water is a major factor in controlling global heat distribution, regional sea level changes, the ocean’s absorption of carbon and European weather.
To measure the AMOC’s impact on our changing climate, scientists from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban have deployed two deep-sea BPRs, one in the north-east Atlantic and one in the Labrador Sea, to record regular changes in sea surface height.
The two Fetch AZA BPRs, developed and built by UK marine technology firm Sonardyne, have been placed thousands of metres below the sea surface where they will record sea surface height to the nearest centimetre, giving the researchers a detailed comparison between the two locations. Deployed for up to 10 years, this will allow them to measure changes in the speed and strength of the AMOC, which will provide crucial data to inform climate predictions.
The north-east Atlantic instrument was deployed from the RRS James Cook during the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Programme (OSNAP) research cruise, jointly led by SAMS and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in August. The western instrument was deployed by SAMS oceanographer Dr Sam Jones during a cruise on board the RV Meteor, led by the German marine institute GEOMAR in September.
[blockquote author=” Dr Kristin Burmeister, SAMS oceanographer, co-chief scientist on the OSNAP cruise”]”This is the first time these Sonardyne pressure sensors have been used in ocean physics, but they could be a game changer in how effectively we can measure the vast AMOC. Once we know the speed of these currents, we can work out the volume of water being moved and then calculate how much heat is being transported. This heat is important to the climate of Europe and gives the continent its relatively mild weather. These currents directly impact our weather, particularly in the UK. The influence of the AMOC on the Earth’s climate is so significant that there is an urgent need to better understand its movement, speed and heat transfer. That data will allow us to feed into the various climate models that help governments and society prepare for the changes in our climate in years to come.”[/blockquote]
The east side of the Atlantic Ocean is typically around 20 centimetres higher than the west side but the flow of the water does not go east to west, as the opposing force of the Coriolis effect from the rotating Earth causes a circular flow in a general south to north movement.
The AMOC transports roughly 1.25 Peta (10^15) Watts of energy from the Tropics towards the subpolar and Arctic regions – more than 60 times the present rate of world energy consumption. Despite being so influential in our climate, it has only been continuously measured for 19 years, limiting our long-term understanding of its relation to climate.
The BPRs will remain on the seabed for up to 10 years and the data they gather can be transmitted wirelessly through the water to a ship or even an uncrewed platform, without the need to recover them.
Geraint West, Head of Science at Sonardyne, says, “AZA is a game-changing technology as, previously, the need to calibrate pressure sensors meant that lengthy observations were compromised, limiting their use for long-term studies. The Ambient-Zero-Ambient (AZA) technique used in the Fetch AZA overcomes this by autonomously recalibrating in situ with an internal high accuracy barometer. This allows consistently accurate readings for up to 10 years. Mastering this technique took years of investment by Sonardyne and while it’s already been used, at scale, in other sectors, we are hugely excited to see it now being put into use in physical oceanography, not least in a project that will aid our understanding of key climate drivers.”
OSNAP is now six months into gathering data from both sides of the Atlantic and to mark this milestone Sonardyne and SAMS have released a video – Understanding the AMOC – explaining the effect of ocean currents on climate and the importance of the programme in more detail.
Marine energy, defence and science company Sonardyne has been selected to provide a subsurface communications and navigation network for the Smart Sound Connect Subsurface (SSCS) Project. Sonardyne will partner with the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory to install, operate and manage an underwater acoustic communications and navigation network that will link to the existing surface assets.
Located in the city of Plymouth and the waters in and around Plymouth Sound, SSCS builds on the existing Smart Sound Plymouth infrastructure that underpins the National Centre for Coastal Autonomy. The £1.2million initiative, supported by funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, will further enhance the unique proving ground for businesses to test, trial, prototype and commercialise new products and services.
During 2023, Sonardyne will provide nine navigation and communications nodes based on its 6th Generation (6G®) technology, which can be deployed on the seabed either as fixed or mobile networks. In addition, two integrated sensor nodes will be supplied to enable real-time reporting of key subsurface operational safety parameters, including water temperature and currents. Sonardyne’s new Origin 600 ADCP with integrated acoustic communications and onboard Edge processing will be at the heart of these. In addition, two gateways to the subsea networks will be provided: Firstly, a Ranger 2 GyroUSBL, which can be mounted on either a crewed or uncrewed surface vessel, will act as a mobile gateway, and secondly, a Mini-Ranger 2 system, which will be mounted on the L4 buoy as a fixed gateway. Sonardyne will also be providing a comprehensive training and support package.
[blockquote author=” Geraint West, Head of Science at Sonardyne”]”We’re really excited that our technology will be heading the next chapter in Smart Sound Plymouth’s evolution. We are proud members of the Plymouth maritime ecosystem, and this project is set to be a great showcase not only for our technology, but also the region as a whole.”[/blockquote]
Smart Sound is designed to be a unique proving ground for businesses and researchers to test, trial, prototype and commercialise new products and services. Its aim is to accelerate the adoption and deployment of advanced marine and maritime technologies across multiple sectors, including offshore energy, aquaculture, defence, and advanced engineering.
[blockquote author=” Dr Alex Nimmo-Smith, Associate Professor of Marine Physics at the University of Plymouth”]”This initiative expands on the already unique capabilities and facilities of Smart Sound Plymouth, and creates unrivalled opportunities for research that will advance our understanding of the ocean. It will also enable us to work even more closely with businesses across the marine and maritime sector, and to use our collective knowledge to inspire the workforce of the future.”[/blockquote]
With nearly 1,000 km2 of authorised and deconflicted water space and a unique combination of infrastructure facilities and local expertise, Smart Sound Plymouth is already one of the UK’s premier maritime proving and trials facilities. SSCS will elevate its capabilities to a new level to create the first truly multi-domain connected offshore environment in the UK.
Dr James Fishwick, Head of Smart Sound Plymouth, said: “Smart Sound Plymouth is central to Plymouth’s ambition to be a world-leading academic and business cluster for the development of the next generation of maritime technologies in order to better understand our oceans and create new sustainable businesses. We look forward to working with Sonardyne to realise this ambition.”
Karl Tucker, Chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, said: “We are delighted to support the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory in advancing the capabilities of Smart Sound through Sonardyne’s technologies. The upgraded Smart Sound will provide even more opportunities for world-class testing and research, adding to Plymouth’s unique offering as a global centre of excellence for ocean technologies including autonomous marine vessels.”