NOAA Ocean Exploration and Fugro have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to advance uncrewed technologies for deep-sea exploration. The partnership aims to boost the efficiency, reach, and impact of NOAA’s ocean exploration mission.
The collaboration combines NOAA’s scientific expertise with Fugro’s technological capabilities, leveraging uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), autonomous underwater systems, and electrically powered remotely operated vehicles. This approach will reduce costs, expand research capacity, and make ocean science more accessible to researchers nationwide.
“The mission of NOAA Ocean Exploration is to accelerate the pace, scale, and accuracy of ocean mapping, and this strategic partnership will help us achieve that,” said NOAA Corps Captain William Mowitt, Acting Director of NOAA Ocean Exploration. “By enabling remote operations and expanding the use of innovative technologies, we can cut costs and broaden our scope, unlocking the ocean’s potential at the scale and speed needed to meet America’s growing demand for ocean data and resources.“
The CRADA outlines several key objectives, including:
-
developing advanced methods for remote ocean missions,
-
creating tools to control underwater robots in real time from shore,
-
designing new sensors to monitor environmental baselines and track critical minerals.
Celine Gerson, Group Director for Fugro in the Americas and President of Fugro USA, highlighted the transformative potential of the partnership: “We are entering an exciting new era of ocean mapping, where data can be collected and delivered without human presence at sea. Our 25+ years of collaboration with NOAA have paved the way for this progress, from introducing remote operations on crewed vessels to advancing fully remote cloud-based systems. We are proud to help NOAA shape the future of ocean science through innovation and a shared vision.”
The organizations will coordinate across vessels, uncrewed platforms, subsea assets, and data buoys, working on improving remote piloting, developing cloud-based workflows, and enhancing real-time data delivery via high-speed communications.
Joint technical workshops will launch collaborative projects, including digital workflow demonstrations, sensor development, and integration of cloud-based data for habitat mapping and mineral monitoring.
With its extensive expertise in uncrewed systems, data services, and remote marine operations, Fugro is a valuable partner for NOAA in exploring the ocean’s largely uncharted deep-sea regions.
The CRADA is part of NOAA’s broader mission to unlock the mysteries of the deep ocean and ensure the sustainable use of marine resources through partnerships, technology, and scientific discovery.
