USV: MAREANO wants to accelerate the shift towards lower carbon emissions in seabed mapping. Use of USVs is one way to achieve this goal. The programme will publish a USV-based tender for the 2025 season in January.
Photo: Geir Pedersen / HavforskningsinstituttetPublished: 23.12.2024
MAREANO has decided to publish a USV-based tender for the 2025 season. In December, the programme invited the industry for specific feedback on USV as a survey platform and input on the MAREANO standard for multibeam and sub-bottom profiler (SBP) data.
– The tender will be announced on TED and Doffin around January 20, with a deadline around February 17, says Helge Welde from the Norwegian Mapping Authority, Hydrographic Service.
The upcoming tender will require use of USV. The suppliers themselves must determine the need for any support vessels.
– We want to emphasize that in this procurement, we are seeking experience with USVs. Therefore, USV must be the platform used for the seabed mapping, Welde informs.
The current technical specification, the MAREANO standard for multibeam and sub-bottom profiler (SBP) data, will be modified considering the use of USV.
The survey areas will be limited to areas shallower than 250 meters within the prioritized areas NRE-2 and NRE-7 blocks, as shown in the map illustration. As we yet don’t have the sufficient understanding of the price level, we have included three additional possible areas east of the NRE-7 block.
In the tender MAREANO will request a price per square kilometre, not a daily rate. The budget for the procurement is around 6.000.000 NOK.
– We want to share as much information as possible with the industry, as early as possible. However, note that neither the tender nor the budget is fully planned yet. Therefore, the information above may be subject to change, says Welde.
The MAREANO programme thanks all the suppliers who submitted proposals on optimal solutions when USV is used as the survey platform, and feedback on the current technical specification.
– We received feedback from a dozen companies. The range of solutions proposed were broad and innovative. The valuable information we have received will be used in the preparation of the procurement and tender documents, says Welde.
