Peruvian fishing company TASA has taken delivery of the first unmanned surface vessel (USV) designed for cost-effective location of potential catches.
Developed and built by Kongsberg, the eight-metre new vessel has been named Guardian del Mar can cruise at up to 12 knots, with a navigational autonomy of around 400 hours.
With now crew on board, running costs are estimated at just 0.6% of the cost of running one of the conventional vessels in the TASA fleet of industrial fishing vessels which focus on pelagics for meal and fish oil production.
Guardian del Mar’s role is to gather data on stocks of mackerel, horse mackerel and anchoveta, using its two ES80 echo sounders, a low frequency SX-90 sonar and a CTD sensor.
‘As the leading producer of fishmeal and fish oil, we are proud to bring this technological innovation to Peru,’ said TASA’s CEO Gonzalo de Romaña.
‘Although it has the purpose of improving the efficiency of our operations, it will also allow us to further strengthen the sustainability approach in the sector by being able to share valuable oceanographic data for scientific research and adequate fishing management in our country.’
The USV operates autonomously under human supervision and will gradually be upgraded with developments on situational awareness and collision avoidance. During the initial phase of implementing this new technology in their daily operations, TASA will gain valuable experience and training by supervising the USV from a nearby mothership. Guardian del Mar is already programmed with autonomous capabilities such as anti-grounding, automatic object detection, CTD casts and much more.
Sea trials are being carried out in Norwegian waters and the USV is expected to be launched in the Southern Pacific in September.
It will also facilitate collection of oceanographic and fishing information that will be available to scientific institutes and analysis departments of TASA to better understand the development of the marine sector related to fishing. Data will also be made available to the Peruvian Navy to inform, identify, and allow people to board in emergency situations.
‘Kongsberg is proud to be a part of the Peruvian work for sustainable and efficient fisheries,’ said Bjørn Jalving, SVP Technology at Kongsberg Maritime.
‘TASA has shown a future-oriented approach by integrating the Sounder USV in their operations. We look forward to close cooperation when the vehicle is set in operation.’
