Plymouth scientists design revolutionary crewless ship

OCEANUS COULD EXPLORE OCEANS' FURTHEST REACHES

- ANDY PHILLIPS

SCIENTISTS from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) have shared plans for the world's first long-range, autonomous research vessel which they say will be able to usher in a new era for net-zero oceanography and advanced international marine research.

PML has partnered with nonprofit exploration charity ProMare and Plymouth marine technology firm MSubs to design Oceanus, a 24 metre-long uncrewed vessel.

The sleek vessel will be self-righting and will carry an array of monitoring sensors to collect data for research into critical areas such as climate change, biodiversity, fisheries and biogeochemistry.

PML has released a video created by MSubs, after seed funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), but further funding is now being sought to support the building of the vessel, which PML says will take around two years to complete.