Ship & Boat International eNews: September/October 2022
USV deployments may be more common in the offshore, military and scientific research sectors, but Peruvian fishery TASA is about to test the benefits of adding an unmanned vessel to its fleet. Currently operating 48 purse-seine vessels, TASA specialises in exporting fishmeal and fish oil around the globe for indirect human consumption. As of September, the company will also be the owner of the first marine drone to operate in Peru.
The vessel, Guardian del Mar, is an 8m Sounder USV, supplied to TASA by Kongsberg Maritime. It will be used to locate domestic fish schools, including Atlantic horse mackerel and anchovies, allowing TASA to make its fishing trips more efficient by reducing its overall fuel consumption. Additionally, between fishing seasons, Guardian del Mar will be used to acquire oceanographic and fish research data, to be shared with scientific institutes and TASA’s own analysis departments with the goal of improving management of Peru’s available fish stocks.
Guardian del Mar is equipped with two echosounders, a low-frequency sonar and a conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) sensor. Propulsive power is provided by a 93kW Steyr diesel engine, which enables a top speed of 12-13knots. Atle Gran, Kongsberg sales manager for marine robotics, tells Ship & Boat International that the USV’s operating costs “will represent about 0.6% compared to an average vessel of the industrial fishing fleet” – gains realised by removing human crew and the subsequent reduction in fuel consumption and carbon footprint.
The USV has an endurance of more than 400 hours, and it will function autonomously, supervised by personnel based ashore or aboard another vessel – or both. TASA plans to initially supervise Guardian del Mar from a nearby mothership until its personnel have become more familiar with the USV and how it functions. Gran says: “The connection can be made via Kongsberg Maritime Broadband Radio [MBR] or Iridium satellite – and, in the future, via LEO 5G. The MBR range is expected to be around 25-30km with the Sounder USV’s mast fully extended– though, depending on installation height, MBR can reach much farther…out to several hundred kilometres.” Other future upgrades will see the USV fine-tune its situational awareness and collision avoidance capabilities.
