SAFE Boats partners with maritime autonomy provider Mythos AI

Written by Marine Log Staff
Mythos AI boat

Mythos AI’s first autonomous SAFE Porter 78S hydrographic survey vessel, ArchieOne, is fully equipped and in-service

Bremerton, Wash., based SAFE Boats International has entered a production partnership with West Palm Beach, Fla., based autonomous maritime technology specialist Mythos AI.

SAFE Boats has recently delivered a purpose-built Porter 78S workboat to Mythos AI that it will showcase at the upcoming WorkBoat Show. Built under an exclusive license agreement with Stormer Work Boats of the Netherlands, the aluminum-hull, outboard-driven survey boat is specifically designed for the integration of Mythos AI’s self-driving and autonomous hydrographic survey control system.

Mythos AI’s first autonomous SAFE Porter 78S hydrographic survey vessel, ArchieOne, is fully equipped and in-service, collecting data and demonstrating its capabilities to hydrographic survey stakeholders in the U.S. southeast. The second vessel is approaching completion and future builds are scheduled for 2023 and beyond.

The partnership combines the strength of SAFE Boats as an established program boat builder for U.S. federal, state, and local public safety agencies with Mythos AI’s dedication to providing automated workflow solutions for vessel operators.

“SAFE Boats was attracted to Mythos AI’s focused and realistic application of self-driving, autonomous car technology to solve workflow inefficiencies for workboat operators,” said SAFE Boats CEO Richard Schwarz. “Their team has a refreshing approach to addressing this underserved space and has developed exciting capabilities in a short time span. It’s exciting to be a critical partner and witness their technology rollout.”

Mythos AI’s logical approach applies self-driving, car-derived technology and applies it to the far more manageable maritime environment. Archie, Mythos AI’s initial product offering, is a vertically integrated autonomous hydrographic survey vessel. Hydrographic surveys require a specialized skill set and the ability to rapidly interpret various environmental details. They are conducted at low speeds where maintaining course and coverage requirements manually is a challenge while executing dynamic routes to avoid obstacles and collisions in congested waterways. The Mythos system walks operators through the acquisition process of high fidelity, multibeam sonar data from start-to-finish, layering in autonomous quality-control and self-driving to reduce human-prone error and, in turn, increases the efficiency of surveys tenfold.

“Mythos AI sought SAFE Boats as its production partner for their proven quality, discipline, and precision in replicating boats for large programs,” said Mythos AI CEO, Geoff Douglass. “Commercial, self-driving robotics and autonomous systems require a level of engineering and manufacturing discipline that is challenging to find in boatbuilding. The team at SAFE had this discipline and was from start to finish a great program partner. SAFE Boats and the Stormer Porter 78S are the ideal builder and vessel platform for our initial market offering. We look forward to continuing the relationship.”

The Porter 78S is an 8 meter long by 3 meter aluminum workboat powered by dual outboard engines with a large pilothouse and working deck area inclusive of a moonpool for multibeam sonar deployment. The Porter range of workboats is offered by SAFE Boats in inboard and outboard configurations with lengths from 6.5 meters to 12 meters.

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