DRONE TECH
RULES AND REGULATIONS WORKBOAT CODE 3 BREAKTHROUGH FOR PIONEER C
lass society Lloyd’s Register (LR) has issued the UK’s
operated and unmanned vessel (ROUV) under the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s (MCA’s) Workboat Code Edition 3 (WBC3),
Annex 2 – a much-anticipated development by USV and ROV developers in the UK, some of whom have seen restrictive MCA rules as hindering this (see The Naval Architect July 2025).
Pioneer Annex 2 (image: ACUA Ocean)
The recipient is ACUA Ocean’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered USV Pioneer, a 14.2m x 9.m long- endurance monohull, designed for offshore surveillance and in December 2024, the modular Pioneer has a mast height of 8.1m and a maximum payload capacity of 6.5tonnes, and has a service speed of 4knots, increasing to 6.5knots max.
Anderson Chaplow, principal specialist at LR, comments: major step forward – not just for ACUA Ocean or LR, but for the wider UK maritime industry. It complex ROUVs under Annex 2 is achievable and sets a precedent for others in the industry to follow. It also shows what’s possible when developers, regulators and to bring emerging technologies safely into operation.” LR hints that it expects to issue further USVs in the coming months. ■
MARITIME SURVEILLANCE
ZOE RAISES SHIELD FOR US NAVY DEMO
Z
elim has trialled its ZOE solution, previously used to detect and track offshore wind farm and cruise ship man overboard (MOB) casualties (see The Naval Architect July 2025) to detect USVs off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island, as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the US Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC).
The demo saw Zelim unveil its ZOE Shield application, powered by the same AI engine used for its ZOE MOB solution. ZOE Shield can detect and classify small USVs operating without AIS, to safeguard critical subsea infrastructure, and is reportedly “immune” to GPS denial and radar jamming attacks, Zelim adds.
ZOE Shield has been used to detect and classify USVs 16 THE NAVAL ARCHITECT
The CRADA came about through Zelim’s participation in the BlueTIDE 2025 tech demo event, hosted by 401 Tech Bridge, NavalX and the Northeast Tech Bridge. Speaking shortly before the August demo, Zelim explained: “[Our] role in the scenario involves detecting small remotely operated surface vessels operating covertly in sensitive areas, which may pose a precursor threat to subsurface sabotage.” ■
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
