SEA-KIT is a British enterprise providing a range of USV solutions that have broad applications in maritime logistics, environmental management, security and surveillance, offshore asset monitoring, marine inspection and ocean science as well as efficient survey of the ocean floor. Through its collaboration with industry partners, SEA-KIT is committed to driving down costs of geo-data collection, as well as reducing the sector’s carbon emissions.
In 2019 the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni Team won the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE of $4 million for their entry concept which utilised SEA-KIT’s first X-Class USV build, USV Maxlimer, alongside the Kongsberg Maritime HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) System, for efficient, safe and cost-effective seafloor mapping. Among other industry firsts as a proof-of-concept craft, USV Maxlimer was instrumental in the Tonga Eruption Seabed Mapping Project (TESMaP) which explored the undersea impacts of last year’s volcanic eruption in Tonga. The 12-metre vessel was remotely controlled from SEA-KIT’s base in the UK as it gathered data from inside the caldera - an area too dangerous for scientists to go.
The new partnership will leverage SEA-KIT’s commercially proven and established USV technology to support Seabed 2030’s ambition to map the entire ocean floor. SEA-KIT’s vessels are designed to operate over-the-horizon for extended periods of time, making them ideal for conducting deep-sea surveys in remote and challenging locations.