The transition to autonomous marine operations is a promising process in full swing. The advantages of performing hydrographic or oceanographic tasks autonomously weighed against traditional methods. Global climate change and reduction of the carbon footprint have led to the development of autonomous technologies and the transfer of these technologies continues to help in the fight against global challenges. However, the process towards the increased use of these new technologies also needs to be supported both in business and in policy. All too often, survey companies find it difficult to make the business case, while the pros are very clear. Regulations should also be put in place to avoid the Wild West search under the sea.
At the iXblue Users Conference, hosted by the iXcampus in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Ile-de-France, France on 23 June 2022, many of the pros were highlighted by the speakers of the day. They included Dr Mathias Jonas, Secretary-General of IHO, Rear Admiral (ret) Tim Gallaudet of Ocean STL Consulting, Dr Anna Lim from Argeo and Hendrik de Beuf from DEME and many others. This well-organized conference sheds light on the future of autonomous operations in which iXblue’s Drix USV plays a leading role.
The iXcampus in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Ile-de-France, houses the headquarters of the iXblue company.
Influencing the Agenda
The conference was opened by Dr Mathias Jonas. In his opening speech, Jonas acknowledged that autonomous technology has a great influence on the agenda of the International Hydrographic Organization. Not only does the transition to autonomous marine operations make it possible to obtain more renewable energy; for example, by facilitating the monitoring of offshore wind parks, but maritime safety is also increasing. For example, by using unmanned ships, there is no need to send crews to dangerous places. Another advantage, and the growing market for autonomous surveying in any form, is a sustainable food supply. Aquafarming, for example, is growing rapidly, already providing half of the fish consumed in the world. If 50% of the fish that can be put on a plate comes from aquafarming, it means that less drain is made on natural resources and it leads to a better climate. Wherever there is pollution, and everyone knows there is a lot, autonomous monitoring is called into play, with the measurement of microplastics in the water column serving as a striking example.
All of the above are examples of improving on things we already do. With autonomous technologies, operators can more easily go to remote areas, or facilitate the work that needs to be done without putting the crew in harm’s way. However, it’s the things we haven’t done yet, the glimpses of the future, that make the delegates at the iXblue Users Conference sit up straight in their seats with energy! Possible solutions for the crisis the world is in are always attractive to an audience whose green heart beats for the blue world.
SOLUTIONS
The Norwegian company Argeo is continuously increasing the efficiency and quality of data, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions from operations involving infrastructure, offshore wind, oil and gas and deep sea minerals. Dr Anna Lim from Argeo talks about deep sea minerals.
In 2023, the International Seabed Authority will decide on rules, regulations and procedures to guide the exploitation of waters outside the EEZ. Expectations are high. Many minerals and rare metals are currently consumed by the global economy in large and unsustainable quantities. This is because they are in the devices that almost everyone uses every day; take, for example, lithium for batteries and telephones, or more rare minerals used in the same devices in small quantities. They come from places on Earth that are hard to reach and this often puts a strain on geopolitical relations. Scientists have high expectations about massive ocean floor sulfides, polymetallic nodules and crusts that can be found on mid-ocean ridges, in ocean volcanoes, or in the abyssal plains of oceans of the world. Harvesting these deep-sea minerals, which contain critical metals such as manganese, cobalt and nickel, will solve the tedious and devastating search for the same metals and minerals on land. But this is apparently not an easy task because most of them are found at a great depth of more than 5-6 km. And to find them, we still need to survey millions of square kilometers of seabed to make harvesting as efficient and sustainable as possible. This is where AUVs come in: they provide an efficient way to cover large areas of the ocean floor with the highest possible resolution of mulitphysics data, meaning they are best suited to perform mineral exploitation and mapping surveys. While deep sea mining is currently not allowed, deep sea minerals can be an alternative source of critical metals. According to Dr Lim, it is very important to base future decisions on real knowledge instead of relying on data from exploratory surveys. The key principle for any deep-ocean exploration survey can be formulated as multi-dimensional data-driven efficiency, where each survey should provide relevant data of high quality at the best area coverage rate, and with the least environmental impact as much as possible. This systematic approach relies heavily on autonomous underwater technology.
Hendrik de Beuf, Chief Surveyor with DEME, a Belgian company specializing in dredging, marine engineering and environmental remediation, picked up where Dr Anna Lim left off. DEME clearly seeks to combat global threats, the rising sea levels, the growing world population and the scarcity of natural resources. According to its vision, the search for minerals should be done as cleanly and sustainably as possible. The demand for earth’s metals and minerals will only increase. In one of the areas assigned for some exploration, DEME has already tried harvesting nodules with an autonomous underwater vehicle with good results. It goes without saying that DEME is eagerly awaiting the new policy in this new field.
Presentation at the iXblue Users Conference 2022 on the renewal of the French hydrographic and oceanographic fleet (CHOF).
Obstacles
As promising as all this is, there are still some hurdles to overcome before the benefits of autonomous marine operations can be fully utilized in the field. Some of this is technological in nature of course, but I’ll leave that to the technicians at good companies like iXblue. Many engineers are working every day to develop autonomous marine operations into a mature industry. I want to focus on policy and business in this piece.
The first hurdle to overcome has to do with regulations. In order to prevent the autonomous kingdom of the ocean from becoming a Wild West for deep sea mining and renewable energy, it is necessary to agree on regulations that cover things such as safety, privacy and exploration rights, especially in those areas outside in the EEZ. Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who headed NOAA before his retirement, warned the audience at the iXblue Users Conference of situations where there are no rules and where people will do whatever they can to get to the bottom of the most quickly, using methods not designed to meet the criteria for clean energy, sustainability and efficiency. Gallaudet often advocated for more regulation, for example, of the American federal government.
Another challenge that must be overcome in the near future is the gap between the workforce and the deployment and use of autonomous and uncrewed vehicles. Currently, the workforce is not sufficiently trained and does not have sufficient capacity to bridge the gap quickly. This means that we cannot make the best use of autonomous technology. This point should be considered by naval and maritime colleges and teachers from the private sector.
The last point is the business case for autonomous surveying. The margin between income and expenses, interest and depreciation is always running thin. For (rental) companies, the upfront investments are so high that any downtime, even a sea survey job, or at the port, is too much. Additional work in the future will not be a problem, so leaving the AUV or USV on the ship, or in port, will probably happen less often. Another part of the solution, apart from the full-time deployment of vehicles, is a good and decent price. Generally, government contracts work for the lowest price. Governments at all levels are still the largest clients for many projects involving AUVs and USVs. Governments should be good customers, setting an example of how to do business. If sustainability is an argument for deploying new technology, it should also be an argument for hiring survey companies!
The iXblue Users Conference in Saint-Germain-en-Laye sheds light on the future of autonomous maritime operations. iXblue brings together a group of enthusiastic and enthusiastic ‘tech for a better blue environment’ believers, working with iXblue and their clients from all over the world, together with a set of high level influencers, in a beautiful environment. That was a bonus and a joy. It is impossible, of course, to cover all the presentations in this report, but track Hydro International; we will keep you updated. The main takeaway so far is that although some hurdles still need to be overcome, technically, business-wise and policy-wise, the future of autonomous maritime operations is bright and quite promising!
