Saildrone Surveyor becomes world’s largest USV to gain class certification

Saildrone Surveyor [Photo: Saildrone]

ABS has awarded its classification to the Saildrone Surveyor, a fully autonomous deepwater unmanned surface vehicle (USV).

At 20 meters long and capable of unmanned operations across all world oceans, the Saildrone Surveyor breaks new ground. It is the largest class of USVs from Saildrone Inc, an Alameda, Calif.-headquartered provider of maritime security, ocean mapping, and meteorological and oceanographic data using unmanned autonomous assets.

“ABS and Saildrone are pioneering new frontiers, setting the pace for innovation. This step forward is a result of our investments in ABS’ technical capability and helping to ensure our rules are able to support innovation with an unwavering focus on safety,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS senior vice president and chief technology officer.

“The ABS class certification is more than a certificate—it’s a signal to governments and the maritime industry that Saildrone USVs are mature, safe, tested, and ready for scale,” said Richard Jenkins, Saildrone founder and CEO. “It’s been a very large investment and a multi-year process to achieve ABS class certification, but we are proud to be the first company in the world to do so and proud that our systems have reached the highest standards as required by the ABS Class certificate.”

The 20-meter Saildrone Surveyor is capable of long-endurance missions in the open ocean, collecting deep-ocean bathymetry and performing a wide range of maritime domain awareness tasks.

This milestone follows the ABS class cerification in 2023 of the smaller 10-meter Saildrone Voyager, which is designed for persistent surveillance in coastal and near-shore environments.

Saildrone USVs are capable of fully autonomous operations with no human onboard and are remotely monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the company’s global mission management team.

• ABS is collaborating with industry, government regulators and stakeholders in the design and implementation of the world’s most advanced remote-control and autonomous technology. Learn more HERE.