Saildrone Surveyor

AIP, an important first step to full classification of a new maritime vehicle, was awarded to the Saildrone Voyager and Saildrone Surveyor.

The 65-foot Surveyor is designed for deep ocean mapping and maritime security missions.

The Saildrone Surveyor, the world’s largest uncrewed ocean mapping vehicle, has mapped more than 45,000 square kilometers (17,375 square miles) of previously unexplored ocean floor during a months-long survey around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and off the coast of California.

The Mobile, AL-based shipbuilder will manufacture Saildrone’s 65-foot USV.

Detailed information about the coastal seafloor is essential to predicting destructive hurricane storm surge.

Presented by the Blue Marine Foundation and BOAT International, the Ocean Awards recognize groups and individuals making significant contributions to ocean conservation.

Following this successful proof of concept voyage, Saildrone will build a fleet of Surveyors, manufactured at US shipyards, to map Earth’s oceans in the next 10 years.

The new Saildrone Surveyor is the world’s most advanced uncrewed surface vehicle, equipped with an array of acoustic instruments for high-resolution shallow and deep-water mapping.

UNH, MBARI, and Saildrone will work together to advance deepwater ocean bathymetry thanks to a three-year grant from the National Oceanographic Partnership Program.