Saab Cougar pounces in Taiwan

Taiwan’s Metal Industries Research and Development Centre (MIRDC) is set to train locals to manage remotely operated vehicles (ROV) for offshore wind activities.

MIRDC will carry out the training at the Maritime Technology Innovation Centre created by the Bureau of Energy and Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs with the aim to cultivate national offshore wind talents.

The plan is to use the Saab Seaeye Cougar XT Compact robotic vehicle to train personnel to assist in the development and maintenance of offshore wind underwater structures.

According to MIRDC, the Cougar’s six thrusters make it steady in strong cross currents and allow it to operate around structures while handling equipment such as cameras, sonar, tracking systems and manipulators.

Cougar XT Compact comes with a Kongsberg color zoom camera, Blueview multibeam sonar, Tritec SeaKing sidescan sonar, Cygnus ultrasonic thickness gauge, CP contact probe and a four-function manipulator. It also comes as a free-swimming option and has its own 16ft control cabin.

The courses will provide training and certification in Taiwan and for the Asia Pacific region.