Houston-based offshore contractor and subsea robotics specialist Oceaneering has secured a multi-million dollar contract to build an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and establish an onshore remote operations centre for the US Navy. The deal will see Oceaneering leverage technology originally developed to support the offshore energy sector. The AUV called Freedom will be built at Oceaneering’s Morgan City, Louisiana facility. Oceaneering has carried out remote operations of commercial subsea robotic systems from onshore centres since 2015 and has performed over 120,000 hours of remote operations to date. The contract was awarded by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the US Department of Defense to Oceaneering’s subsea robotics and aerospace and defence technologies segment. “This award allows us to deliver commercial technology driven by energy industry needs to the US Department of Defense to address subsea security needs,” said Peter Buchanan, senior director for Oceaneering’s subsea robotics segment. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsUnited States