XOCEAN Newsletter, July

Celtic Sea Fisheries Survey | “Over the Horizon” Operations

In June 2018, XOCEAN completed a Fisheries Survey in the Celtic Sea for Ireland’s Marine Institute that saw our USV operating 100nm offshore experiencing a range of conditions from flat calm to over 5.5m waves. The USV was fitted with a Simrad EK80 dual 38kHz and 200kHz echosounder integrated with a motion reference unit and positioning system. Over the secure satellite connection, XOCEAN’s operators controlled the USV 24/7 and monitored the quality of the 110GB’s of fisheries data collected.

Commenting on the mission, Ciaran O’Donnell, Chief Scientist Marine Institute said “This is the first time we have used a USV for the collection of fisheries data. We were really impressed with the mission and can see numerous ways in which this new technology can be used to increase the quality and quantity of data collected enhancing our knowledge of our marine environment”. Contact us to learn more.

Growing Fleet
XOCEAN launched its latest USV at Seawork International in Southampton in early July. “We’re delighted to add a further USV to our fleet” said James Ives, CEO. “Building on the result of our successful sea trials this latest USV includes a number of minor enhancements improving both its endurance and manufacture lead-time”. Over the coming weeks XOCEAN will begin the installation and commissioning of a multibeam bathymetric survey system on this vessel. Contact us to learn more.

Stability Testing
XOCEAN has completed a programme of wave tank testing at Lir, Ireland’s National Ocean Test Facility in Cork. During these trials, the XO-450 demonstrated its seakeeping qualities across a range of different sea states. Andrew Carlisle, XOCEAN CTO said of the trials, “During this testing programme we were able to subject our USV to a range of worst-case wave heights and periods. We were delighted with the response of the vessel with it remaining stable in the maximum wave heights that could be generated in the test tank, equivalent to Sea State 6 / Beaufort 7 to 8”. Contact us to learn more.

Careers
At XOCEAN we are always looking for talented people to join us on our mission. We are currently recruiting for the following roles:
Control System Engineer [Carlingford, Ireland].
Click here for further information.

About XOCEAN
Using unmanned surface vessels (USVs), XOCEAN offers turnkey data collection services to survey companies and agencies. Our platform operates 24/7, accelerating project delivery at a third of the cost of conventional methods.