Kongsberg Discovery’s first production HUGIN Endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle has completed factory acceptance trials.
Launched in 2021, the largest HUGIN family vessel completed its six-month-long sea trials in March with a demonstration for the customer.
Kongsberg Discovery President Martin Wien Fjell said that the project was completed in record time and has attracted interest from both defense and commercial operators.
“Endurance can accommodate whatever kind of payload a customer wants, whether for seabed mapping or inspection, oceanography, continuous surveys of offshore wind parks, or as a surveillance tool for critical subsea infrastructure or changes in ecosystems,” Fjell said.
“To achieve the first system delivery is a significant milestone, and we will continue to develop additional capabilities. HUGIN Endurance enters the market as a game-changer.”
Designed for Extended Operations
The 11-meter (36 feet), 8,000-kilogram (17,637 pounds) lithium-ion-battery-powered vessel has a range of 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) and an endurance of 15 days.
It features an array of sensors including a “wide-swath high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar (HISAS 1032 Dual RX), multibeam echo sounder (EM 2040 MkII), sub-bottom profiling system, color camera, laser profiler, magnetometer and environmental sensors collecting data such as conductivity, temperature, sound speed, methane, and CO2 and O2 concentration.”
In addition, the vehicle’s configurable volume can accommodate a mix of batteries and custom payloads.
