Maritime technology and robotics firm Exail has sold a second DriX O-16 uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to a firm installing and maintaining undersea cables.
The company recently announced OMS Group had agreed to buy another of its 16-metre, 10.5-tonne autonomous drone vessels, which have a 30-day endurance and a range of about 3,500 nautical miles. The USV carries a suite of sensors, including Kongsberg’s EM124 multibeam echo sounder which provides high-resolution seabed mapping.
To showcase the drone’s capabilities last year Exail dispatched a DriX O-16 to the annual REPMUS robotics exercises in Portugal via a 1,100nm journey from France via the Strait of Gibraltar. The USV sailed the entire route autonomously.
OMS will use its new USVs to support subsea telecommunications cable installation missions, performing seabed surveys, route verification, and monitoring. Its OMS Telco division covers submarine cable installation, support, and maintenance including installation and repair of fibre-optic systems, shore-end installation, and subsea surveys.
OMS bought its first DriX O-16 last year. It is now in the water, is due to be officially launched and delivered to OMS later this year, and will be named USV Elite.
Group Chief Executive Officer of OMS Group Ronnie Lim commented: “As global demand for subsea digital infrastructure continues to grow, advanced survey capability has become increasingly important.
“The deployment of the DriX O-16 strengthens our ability to deliver high-quality seabed data with greater safety, lower emissions, and improved operational resilience, particularly for long-duration and remote offshore missions.”
And Exail’s Vice President of Maritime Autonomy Solutions Olivier Cervantes added: “The use of USVs can reduce the survey carbon footprint by up to 99%, decrease human exposure at sea, and offer greater operational flexibility while maintaining high data quality.”
- You can read more details on the Exail website