Saildrone’s first Surveyor autonomous vessel featuring aluminium hull hits water for trial

From water to land, the use of aluminium is rolling out everywhere. According to the latest report, a United States-based Ocean intelligence company, Saildrone, has launched the first of a new generation of Surveyor autonomous vessels featuring aluminium.

Founder and CEO Richard Jenkins said the demand for these vessels is proliferating. He added, “We expect the need for ocean observing to continue to grow in size, complexity and quality. Aerial, surface and subsurface technologies all have a role to play in ocean observations.”

The 20-metre brand-new vessel SD-3000 is similar to previous versions that are currently sailing the ocean and collecting data. The only difference is that the new vessel’s hull is made of aluminium instead of a fibreglass/carbon composite.

“Aluminum was chosen for the hull and keel for its robustness, longevity in the ocean environment, cost and the ability to rapidly mass produce at very large factories like Austal,” said Jenkins.

He further explained, “USVs provide high-resolution data, simultaneously from both above and below the sea surface. This data has much higher spatial and temporal resolution than can be gained from satellites, and the extreme range and endurance allow persistent measurements far beyond the reach of AUVs.”