The Autonomy Journals
The Autonomy Journals showcase leading voices, sharing insights, learnings, lessons and perhaps some confessions from the Autonomy Journey in transport and mobility.
SAMS, a private, non-profit innovation cluster for sustainable, autonomous mobility solutions, host the podcast.
The Autonomy Journals
Reach Remote: The World's First 24-Meter Uncrewed Research Vessel is Sailing
Norway's maritime sector is taking an extraordinary leap forward as Reach Subsea and Kongsberg Maritime unveil the Reach Remote vessel—the world's first 24-meter uncrewed support vessel for ROVs (remotely operated vessels) now operational in Norwegian waters.
The vessel offers safe, environmentally friendly, cost-effective solutions for global underwater inspections, surveys, and intervention services. This groundbreaking project integrates unmanned surface vessels (USVs) with remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), paving the way for advancements in remote maritime technology, marking a significant milestone in global maritime operations.
Is there anything else you'd like to know about this project?
This revolutionary project shrinks what traditionally required a 120-meter vessel with 50 personnel down to a compact, efficient package that operates with zero humans onboard while performing 90% of the same tasks.
The vessel represents a remarkable fusion of existing technologies repurposed for autonomous operations. From shore-based control centers, qualified captains navigate the vessel while ROV operators conduct underwater missions – all remotely. This approach solves multiple industry challenges simultaneously: reducing emissions by up to 90%, addressing the global seafarer shortage, deploying human expertise more efficiently, and dramatically cutting operational costs.
What makes this story particularly compelling is how it illuminates Norway's practical approach to autonomy. Rather than seeking to create entirely new technologies, Reach and Kongsberg integrated proven systems into a novel configuration, working collaboratively with regulatory authorities to establish frameworks for safe operation. Their pioneering efforts have already triggered international cooperation, with seven European nations now agreeing to recognize Norwegian certification for these vessels.
The implications extend far beyond this single vessel. Reach Remote signals the birth of an entirely new market segment for mid-sized uncrewed vessels serving offshore energy, infrastructure inspection, and maritime security needs. Perhaps most fascinating is how this technology might transform maritime careers – creating opportunities for digital natives whose gaming skills translate perfectly to remote vessel operation.
Want to understand how autonomous technology moves from concept to commercial reality? The Reach Remote project offers a master class in practical innovation that solves real-world problems while creating new opportunities. Subscribe to the Autonomy Journals to hear more stories about Norway's leadership in autonomous systems and how these technologies are reshaping industries worldwide.
The Autonomy Journals showcase leading voices, sharing insights, learnings, lessons and perhaps some confessions from the Autonomy Journey in transport and mobility.
Subscribe to the Autonomy Journals and join us next time as we continue exploring how Norway leads the way in autonomous mobility solutions. Because in Norway, we do it.
SAMS is a private, non-profit innovation cluster for sustainable, autonomous mobility solutions and the host of the podcast.
It's never been done before exactly what we have been doing here.
Arild:Hello and welcome to the Autonomy Journals podcast we do it. We are your hosts, Eja and Aril.
Eja:I'm leading the Norwegian Innovation Cluster for Sustainable Autonomous Mobility Systems.
Arild:And I'm the founder of a small company in the mobility space, Kobla.
Eja:The Autonomy Journals is aimed at inviting you into the autonomous universe of new ideas, innovation, great progress and feedback.
Arild:Translating visions and complexities, one interesting conversation at a time, and we'll offer links and resources to autonomy sites and news in the credits.
Eja:The Autonomy Journals is sponsored by the Maritime Export Office at Innovation Norway.
Arild:Hello and welcome to the Autonomy Journals. Today I have two guests.
Bjorg:Thank you.
Arild:So, Bjørg, why don't you start by explaining to me what the Reach project is all about?
Bjorg:Reach Remote is the world's first 24-meter uncrewed ROV support vessels built by Reach Subsea, specialists in maritime robotics. We are situated on the west coast of Norway, in Haugesund, but we are an international company with offices all around the world. These vessels supplement our existing fleet of high-spec ROV and survey vessels.
Marthe:In the Reach Remote project Kongsberg is really doing a seamless integration of technologies and competence and is packed with cutting-edge Kongsberg technology. The project includes ship design, vessel control system, positioning, navigation, automation, sensors, situation awareness systems, energy systems and launch and recovery system
Arild:Explain to me what brought you in the first place to this sector. How about you first, Marthe.
Marthe:I love to work on challenging projects and I think this is definitely a challenging project, and in Kongsberg Maritime we have an opportunity to work together with so many competent people to integrate technology across different disciplines, and this is really what we get a chance to do in the Reach Remote project in Kongsberg Maritime.
Arild:Okay, good, how about you Bjørg? What brought you here?
Bjorg:I was born and raised in this industry actually- I'm Generation X, so I've been witnessing the rapid technology development over the years. I remember my first Nokia phone where we still had ADSL modems and empty internet. I'm very enthusiastic and I think that working with the new technology like Reach Remote is a perfect match for me.
Arild:So, speaking of new technologies, explain a little bit about the special technology in the Reach Remote project.
Marthe:There are so many cutting-edge technologies that are integrated together, and I think that's what really makes this special. There are no people on board at any time. It's been really a step change, both performing sea trials and now the operations without people on board the vessel itself. So, with respect to the vessel for Kongsberg, we do have, then, a really integrated project delivered here, with both having the ship design, the vessel control systems, situation awareness sensors, energy package, and we have also the yard delivery that we are responsible for as well.
Bjorg:If we can do remote operations with robots underwater, why can't we do it with vessels as well?
Bjorg:So Reach were looking for new technology.
Bjorg:In our industry, we normally charter a bigger vessel and put on a robot that we use to explore the ocean and then we came up with an idea of looking for partners that could actually work on remote technology from a maritime perspective, and that brought us together with Kongsberg Maritime, who already had been developing concepts for uncrewed vessels. So, from a technology partner perspective, this was a perfect match for us, and we started off with a feed study looking into the opportunities and the risks involved in such a project, where you both were looking for a remotely controlled vessel and also a remotely controlled ROV system. So that concluded that we could assign Kongsberg as a turnkey deliverer of such a concept and entered a contract with Kongsberg to build two sister vessels, 24 meters of size, both containing an ROV on board, able to sail for 30 days offshore with the Norwegian flag, with the diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system and with the sole purpose of delivering power to the ROV system and bringing it from its original harbor to the point of operation.
Arild:So this uncrewed surface vessel is delivering an ROV out onto the sea where it needs to be put to use.
Bjorg:Exactly. It's 100% uncrewed from day one. So the people who are navigating the vessels are sitting ashore. They are still captains and masters with their education that is needed, but the technology makes it possible for them to see the ice on the bridge from a remote control center instead. And for reach we still operate the way we always have done from a remote control center with control of the ROV, meaning that we have two control centers when we operate this vessel. One for the masters and the chiefs that maintain the vessel and one for the operative team that is in the sharp end towards the client and knows what tasks we are going to do.
Marthe:Yeah, and I think what is really interesting about what Björg is saying here is that it's not that many years ago that this started as a disruptive idea with the cross-industry project and with research institutes, and now we're actually here and it's being delivered and it's out there operating. So it's quite amazing to see the journey that we've been on and how I think this will actually shape how these type of operations are performed in the future.
Arild:So explain to me a little bit about the benefits of this kind of a solution, in contrary to what has been the usual way of doing things.
Bjorg:Well, the benefits are many because we have taken a conventional large vessel and scaled it down to a miniature version of 24 meters.
Bjorg:We reused the technology that we already know, so we have not invented too many new items. We have reused the vessel systems that Kongsberg has been testing for years and we put them together in a smaller vessel, and the benefits of that is, of course, the reduction in power distribution and that gives the vessel an operational profile that is much more efficient in terms of emission and also in cost. It is cheaper to build a smaller vessel than a large conventional vessel. When you compare Reach Remote to a conventional vessel, we can do maybe up to 90% of the tasks that a conventional vessel does, but we don't have the back deck, we don't have the crane, so we're a bit low on complexity, still able to do quite a lot of RV and survey and intervention tasks with a smaller vessel. So this ticks off a lot of boxes in terms of investment, in terms of the use of people and the emission profile, of course, but mostly it's efficient use of resources.
Arild:Right.
Bjorg:Normally on a conventional vessel, if you were going out on a mission to look for some special details subsea, you potentially would have a specialist with you, an expert. But as you know, the vessels depart and they stay out for maybe 14 days or three weeks and these experts become hostages on board the vessels, so we have less experts in the industry than than what we need.
Bjorg:So now we have a much more efficient use of our expert. They can come into the control room and make their advices and then continue on with supporting other projects.
Marthe:Efficient use of experts, and I think this with efficiency is really what is the key here in so many aspects, because now we have 24 meters and it's really packed with technology. I think if you into the Reach Remote vessel, you will definitely see then how much technology, how much redundancy you actually have packed within those 24 meters. I think this is a vessel that is going to operate on its own for 30 days, so we need to have built-in redundancy in the systems. We are building on the technologies that Kongsberg has been delivering for many years and that we are delivering in so many vessels around the world. Here we are using that technology in a different setting, in a different context, and enabling use without people on board.
Arild:So it's down to 22 meters.
Bjorg:Actually it's 23.9.
Arild:I stand corrected. Fine! But tell me how big was the ship usually to service one ROV like this, how big does it have to be?
Bjorg:They vary in size, from maybe 80 meters to 120 meters, and they vary in complexity in terms of operations, depending on whether the crane is in use, if there's a lot of equipment on the back deck, but you definitely see at least 20 people in the maritime crew.
Bjorg:That is a problem itself, because we see from statistics that there is not enough seamen in the world to man the current fleet. But then we add the project teams, so you need to have a team leader, you need to have ROV crew, you need to have project engineers and you maybe have a client and then you have some specialist crew and then you have someone to analyze the data we are acquiring and then it sums up to maybe a total of 50 people on board the vessel that goes offshore for 14 days. Those operations are also planned very efficiently and if we have such a crew we also are able to perform quite a lot of activities. That gives value to the client. But if we were only to dive into the ROV and only to have a look at Evolve, that would be a too big asset to use for such a simple task. We are trying to disrupt a bit the industry on using the right tool for the right operation.
Arild:So you're basically splitting up the functionality of the big vessel and turning it as one separate, smaller entity, right?
Bjorg:Definitely and they can also work together. So if the big vessel is on a high complex project and it could be of use to have Reach R emote working in parallel that's also a concept that we are looking into. That could be a perfect utilization of Reach Remote remote asset.
Arild:And this is operational at the moment.
Marthe:We have delivered the first vessel to Reach just just a few months ago and the next one will be delivered shortly, so it's already out in the water.
Arild:Excellent. So tell me a little bit about the challenges during the project. What kind of barriers have there been? Technological or maybe regulatory?
Marthe:Well, it's never been done before exactly what we have been doing here, which is, of course, challenging in itself, and I think it's really key the collaboration that we had both internally in the project. I'm so proud of the Kongsberg project team really working hard through all the different challenges, both the one that we have anticipated from before, but also the new ones that are arising. But also I would emphasize the importance of having a good collaboration both with our customer reach and also with the regulatory bodies. This is new, so of course it will entail some challenges and it's really important that we work together towards a common goal.
Bjorg:There's no rules for uncrewed vessels like this. So to onboard the maritime authorities was quite important to us and also to have DNV as a third-party assessment body next to us to give some valuable insights how we should structure the approva l. IMO set some rules of how to adopt a new technology and NMA in Norway was quite eager to be first movers in approving these type of vessels in the industry. So with Kongsberg and also the partner Massterly, that has to be mentioned. Massterly is a joint venture between Wilhemsen Ship Management and also Kongsberg specializing in operating vessels with remote and autonomous technology. So together we were quite a powerful technology team to start on the approval process with Reach Remote.
Bjorg:A nd the documents that we produced in the feed study were valuable input to the authorities to understand the concept. Those were just philosophies that now has turned into procedures and how to actually operate the vessels. So during the fabrication process the vessels were built in Klaipeda in Lithuania and came to Norway to a Norwegian yard outside of Porstøen in Brevik. So the vessels have been thoroughly tested according to a test program and it was a big day for us when we received sailing permission to take Reach Remote out on its first maiden journey and after that we have completed the commissioning and the testing program and we took the vessel out from the yard, signed the papers and then became vessel owners. The vessel sailed immediately to Horten because there was a baby waiting for her, the ROV to be installed.
Arild:Right.
Bjorg:So after 16th of January, we have been very busy with installing the ROV system. That also needs to be tested because it's a brand new ROV system. T he ROV system is fully electrical, a bit apart from the hydraulic systems that we use. To build a new ROV that could actually also remain in water for 30 days without maintenance and that was also a hard nut to crack. But we trusted Kutuz Design to be the right partner to do that and, long story short, they managed to deliver an ROV system to us that shows very powerful and good skills in water. So now we're testing the ROV up and down, up and down, up and down, until we feel comfortable that we can sail out from Horten and attack a bigger task, and that is to perform a project with clients to demonstrate the full capacity of Reach Remote.
Arild:You have mentioned both god, tears and a baby. T his seems to be a pretty emotional project for you. For you, too, it sounds like you've really gone through a lot and and there's a lot of ownership to the process, and also the product sounds great. Where does this go from here? I sense that there could be a lot of applications here. Would you elaborate on that, Marthe?
Marthe:Just as important is that we will continue to implement new technology as we go along. It's so important to take a stepwise approach to technology implementation so that we do have the technology implemented in a safe and controlled manner, so that will continue going forward as well. We do have for ASKO, YARA project that we do now build on the learnings from both those projects Trafikverket and other research projects, together with now the learnings from the REACH project. I think it is a really an exciting o . o jundefined
Arild:Yes, we will definitely follow it.
Bjorg:We believe that Reach Remote is a lighthouse for the industry. These are the world's first 24-meter uncrewed ROV and survey vessels and it's a great achievement for Reach to be in the forefront of technology and innovation. We have a fleet perspective, so we were not only aiming for number one and two, we are also aiming for a fleet. We want to have an international footprint. We grew up in the coastline of west coast Norway but, as you know, harsh weather and god makes it a bit difficult to operate in the North Sea under all circumstances. So to grow internationally you need to have something to offer, and we saw that Reach Remote could potentially be a catalyst to open up new doors for us internationally.
Bjorg:So the uncrewed surface vessel market has evolved and matured over the last few years. You can call them as drones that are inspecting harbors, working close to shore. But there was a lack of vessels in the mid-sized segment and that is where Reach Remote comes in. So there's quite a few countries internationally that has matured in accepting uncrewed vessel technology and we know that this is an effort done also by other countries. So when you are first, that also triggers some responsibility in plowing the way for government and approvals. Yeah, so rich subsea has also got into engaged cooperation with other countries and pushing the maritime administrations to to look at us and to see that this is a real project. We have invested, we are coming.
Bjorg:So when you have examples of willingness to invest and also you have a market that is evolving, you're pushing borders. So today we have an international cooperation between Norway and Denmark and Belgium, Netherlands, UK, who have all signed a memorandum of understanding that if we get the vessel approved in Norway, it should be easier for us to also operate in these waters, and the latest I heard is that also Germany and France are signing up for the same. So in this joint effort we are pushing borders to open up the market also for our competitors. So now that we can say that we were first, we see that we have competitors arriving with similar concepts. But that is only a good story to tell, because now we see that we are building the roads that we are all going to drive on and opening up a new market opportunity for not only Reach but also for the industry itself.
Arild:The countries you just mentioned are all European countries and we have this geopolitical setting now where Europe might have to do more of its own production of that kind of stuff. Is that a point here?
Bjorg:Well, if we look at the geopolitical situation, I think all countries are now improving how they maintain their assets and how they surveil. In British subsea we are used to doing pipeline inspections and overseeing that all of the important critical assets of Norway are in good shape In terms of oil and gas industry, offshore wind to act as a guard vessel or whatever applications that is possible for Reach Remote to do. There's a lot of interest in whether Reach Remote could also carry an aerial drone, for example, to do aerial inspection in parallel with subsea inspection.
Arild:How do we push this industry even further?
Bjorg:We have an ambition to grow internationally and also explore other parts of the world with this remote technology, but we need also people to adopt to this new technology. We have used masters with a marine background and we have used ROV pilots with, for example, automation background, but these you can see as drones, the vessels and the ROVs. And you know, when we had the air drones arriving in a over our heads, there were no rules for that either. So now we see that we are pushing boundaries and we are bringing in new technology that also can be quite interesting for kids to explore.
Bjorg:Kids nowadays are the Z generation, growing up with a mobile phone in their hand and also very actively involved in gaming, and we are exploring the opportunities for actually kids to have a new educational path. We are creating new jobs, we believe, for the kids, for the future. So for that we also need our technology partners to work with us in terms of creating new educational paths for our kids. We believe that Reach Remote could be a lighthouse for the industry, with a strong new export opportunity for Norway. We are in partnership with Norwegian partners there's Reach Subsea, there's Wilhelmsen, there's Kongsberg, there's Kystdesign, there's Massterly. We believe that we have created a very powerful export opportunity for Norway.
Arild:This has been very interesting for me. We always ask our guests if they have any autonomy confessions to make. How about you, Marthe? Do you have anything to get off your chest?
Marthe:Well, I like the idea of autonomy confession and I must say I thought about what to say then. But I think I would like to emphasize what I bought for my kids for Christmas, which is one of those cars that goes on the table that you can program yourself, and I think this is really amazing to see what the kids actually are able to do at quite a young age and how fun it is, and I think this is an amazing way for us to really introduce new technology to our kids in a very fun way.
Arild:So autonomous technology at a preschool level? Yes, excellent. How about you, Bjørg?
Bjorg:People who know me. They know that I love to vacuum clean. That's my sort of zen time. And then Christmas 2020 I coincidentally logged But I must admit that after some years, we have a dog and we have a cat, and we have four kids, and I saw that there was a need for a vacuum cleaner; that was a robot, so I actually bought one myself A cheaper one, though, but it does the job. into my husband's Power Power account, where I could see that he actually bought a vacuum cleaner robot. And I couldn't believe it. And I said have you really bought me a robotic vacuum cleaner? Don't you know me? And actually he got so mad so I didn't get a present that year leaner, .
Arild:So the robot can take the dog hair and you can concentrate on the Lego blocks. So, Bjørg, Marthe , thank you so much for this enlightening conversation and also for filling this room with passion about this topic, and good luck with your project and your journey going forward- T o our listeners. Thanks so much for tuning in. Join for the next episode of the Autonomy Journals brought to you by SAMS, the Norwegian Innovation Cluster for Autonomous Mobility and Transport Systems. Autonomy In Norway we do it.
Eja:We are looking forward to sharing the next episode with you. If you like the sound of this, please subscribe to the podcast and follow the Autonomy Journals on Spotify and other channels. We'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you'd love to hear more about around autonomy, because in Norway we do it.