Reach Subsea takes delivery of second uncrewed surface vessel

Norway’s Reach Subsea has confirmed the delivery of its second uncrewed surface vessel (USV), Reach Remote 2, after completing all technical installations, testing, and documentation.

According to Reach Subsea, the vessel will be deployed for commercial projects, expanding the company’s uncrewed fleet after the successful pilot involving Reach Remote 1 earlier this year.

“We are pleased to welcome REACH REMOTE 2 to our fleet, as planned, and look forward to seeing her in operation soon,” said Jostein Alendal, CEO of Reach Subsea.

Reach Remote 2 is a 23.9-meter-long USV equipped with hull-mounted survey sensors and a work class electric remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Said to be designed for full remote control from a shore-based remote operations center, the vessel integrates multiple communication technologies including VSAT, 5G, Iridium, Ceragon Pointlink, and Starlink.

The system is powered by Kongsberg technology, featuring dual EM2040 multibeam echosounders and a Topas PS120 sub-bottom profiler. The ZEEROV payload is said to support a wide range of high-resolution geophysical and visual survey capabilities. 

With a minimum endurance of 30 days and a gross tonnage of 230, the vessel is built for operations to a water depth of 500 meters.

Reach Remote 2 will sail under the Norwegian flag and is part of Reach Subsea’s effort to reduce emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional crewed operations. The company is working with Kongsberg Maritime and Massterly, a joint venture (JV) between Kongsberg and Wilhelmsen, which handles the remote and autonomous control systems.

In January, Reach Subsea took delivery of its first USV, Reach Remote 1, following similar technical sign-off.

In February, Reach Subsea, along with Norwegian offshore service firms Eidesvik and Agalas, began work on a new construction support vessel (CSV) intended for subsea and offshore wind operations. The vessel is two-thirds owned by an entity jointly owned by Eidesvik and Agalas, and one-third by Reach Subsea.