UK subsea robotics pioneer buys first ROV to combine with its all-electric uncrewed submersible

UK remote robotics company HonuWorx has acquired its first remotely operated vehicle (ROV), manufactured by Rovtech Solutions, which will be a key component of a subsea robotics deployment platform that aims to remove the need for surface vessels.

By removing the need for surface ships, the Loggerhead all-electric uncrewed system has the potential to vastly reduce the emissions, cost and risk of underwater robotics operations, and can remove the equivalent emissions of 4,000 petrol or diesel cars per vessel displaced, HonuWorx said.

The Aberdeen-based company plans to begin constructing the first commercial Loggerhead pilot system in Aberdeen this year, for a series of offshore commercial tests in 2027.

The VALOR ROV forms part of an Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) Innovation Project to accelerate the systems integration engineering.

According to HonuWorx, the vehicle can be outfitted with a variety of tools and sensors that previously could only be fitted to large electro-hydraulic ROVs. HonuWorx has additionally developed a cloud-control architecture that enables the VALOR vehicle to be controlled “over the horizon” in a similar way to airborne drones. 

As for Loggerhead, the underwater robotics pioneer has previously validated the technology with a full-scale prototype trial offshore Canada, deploying an ROV from an autonomous submersible mothership platform and controlling the system from shore.

The company is currently undergoing the first phase of a £30 million ($38.8 million) investment program.

“At $3bn and growing, the global underwater inspection and intervention market requires cleaner, safer and more cost-efficient solutions that break away from established models. Unfortunately we’re also in an era where that critical energy and telecommunications infrastructure must be increasingly safeguarded against external threats,” said HonuWorx Chief Executive Lee Wilson.

“We have been working diligently with the VALOR team for the past three years on a range of trials and demonstrations, having long recognised that the VALOR ROV’s compactness and modern control architecture would be well suited to our re-imagining of subsea work.”