U.S. Coast Guard to Test Unmanned Vessels Off Hawaii

A concept photo of the unmanned surface vehicle (left) that will be demonstrated by Spatial Integrated System. At right, the technology evaluation will also include a SailDrone, shown here during a project with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Climate Stations.

The U.S. Coast Guard is set to test unmanned surface vessels off the coast of Hawaii.

The U.S.C.G. Research and Development Center will be conducting the test starting Wednesday, October 7, off the south shore of Oahu. The tests will run through November 5.

The Coast Guard says the tests will focus on autonomous vessel systems from Saildrone and Spatial Integration Systems, in addition to a USCG owned autonomous research vessel made by Metal Shark.

T”his evaluation will examine each vessels’ ability to provide persistent maritime domain awareness, especially in remote areas of the oceans. While potentially applicable to many Coast Guard missions, there is potential these technologies will help enable the Coast Guard to better protect critical natural living marine resources from Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and other illicit activities,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Coast Guard awarded the two contracts Saildrone and Spatial Integration System, worth a combined $1.8 million, back in February for operation and support of unmanned surface vehicles (USV)

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