Based in the US, Saildrone is a pioneer of autonomous surface vehicles. Its global fleet of wind and solar-powered ocean drones monitors the planet in real time, both above and below the surface. Saildrone vehicles have spent almost 25,000 days at sea collecting vital data that is invaluable to the global pursuit of a complete map of the seabed.
In 2021 Saildrone’s flagship USV - Saildrone Surveyor - mapped 11,800 square kilometres of the seafloor during its maiden voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu. More recently it mapped more than 45,000 square kilometres of previously unexplored ocean floor during a months-long survey around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and off the coast of California. The use of renewable wind and solar energy as its primary power source makes the Saildrone Surveyor extremely capable of long-endurance, uncrewed ocean mapping operations, as well as optimising it for deep-ocean mapping.
The capabilities of Saildrone’s fleet will greatly enhance our ability to obtain essential data and increase our understanding of the ocean, allowing us, in turn, to make informed and impactful decisions with regard to the future of the planet.