Nauticus wraps up autonomous, tether-less survey for Shell in Gulf of Mexico

U.S.-based developer of subsea autonomous robotic systems and software Nauticus Robotics has completed its initial 2024 Gulf of Mexico survey scope for UK’s energy giant Shell, carried out autonomously without a tether.

The work, performed for Shell Exploration and Production Inc., covered inactive and active assets off the coast of Louisiana, with all testing completed autonomously without a tether at depths up to 1,000 meters.

According to Nauticus, a detailed analysis of the results is underway. The completion of the work combined with the submission of a final report completes the initial 2024 scope for the service contract awarded in 2023.

The U.S. firm announced the start of commercial operations of its flagship underwater vehicle Aquanaut Mark 2 last month, following the completion of qualification testing.

“This project continues the significant transformation of our company to sustainable, commercial operations. We have successfully demonstrated a viable product without tether on an active field in a deepwater environment. In light of this and similar demonstrations, our 2025 pipeline for commercial work is filling. We are grateful to Shell for the opportunity to show the capabilities of our technologies and services under real-time operating conditions,” said Nauticus Robotics’ CEO and President, John Gibson.

At the beginning of the year, Nauticus secured over $12 million in funding, part of a second tranche of investment, to execute 2024 goals, including augmented autonomy for subsea robots. The aim of the investment is to expedite the certification of the Aquanaut robot.

The first tranche of financing took place before the close of 2023, said to have eliminated many of the dilutive warrants and ratchet provisions of the original de-SPAC financing in the process.