OMS Group's USV Elite advances in sea tests off France

OMS Group's USV Elite uncrewed surface vessel is advancing through sea acceptance tests off southern France, with early results reported as positive.

The tests focus on vessel handling, stability, operational controls, systems integration and survey performance in offshore conditions. Early work has shown stable line keeping and platform behaviour suited to continuous survey work over extended missions.

A central part of the programme is verifying the Kongsberg EM124 deepwater multibeam echosounder suite. Initial findings indicate full-swath bathymetric acquisition in line with the requirements of full ocean-depth cable route surveys.

The programme also covers integration of vessel systems and survey payloads to support reliable offshore survey data collection through autonomous operations.

USV Elite is based on the Exail DriX O-16 platform and sits within the group's survey business, OMS Geometra. The vessel is intended to expand the company's offshore survey offering as demand for submarine cable systems increases the importance of route survey data for planning, development and protection of subsea infrastructure.

Ronnie Lim, Group Chief Executive Officer of OMS Group, linked the programme to the company's wider strategy.

"USV Elite represents a significant step forward in our strategy to expand next-generation offshore survey capabilities," said Lim.

"The results achieved during the Sea Acceptance Test programme demonstrate that long-range uncrewed systems can deliver the stability, endurance and survey performance required for demanding offshore applications. As global demand for digital infrastructure continues to grow, innovative survey solutions such as USV Elite will play an increasingly important role in supporting the development of critical connectivity infrastructure worldwide."

The vessel's endurance is another focus of the testing programme. USV Elite is designed for extended offshore missions across large areas while maintaining survey quality and operational efficiency.

Operating model

Beyond the vessel itself, OMS is using the tests to examine how autonomous surveys could be run through a combination of remote operations, onboard systems and survey payloads.

"Beyond the survey performance itself, we are validating an entirely new operating model," said Emmanuel Delanoue, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of OMS Group and Chief Executive Officer of the Telecommunications Division.

"The integration of autonomous technologies, remote operations and advanced survey payloads has the potential to fundamentally reshape how offshore survey campaigns are planned and executed. Our objective is to combine operational excellence with improved safety, efficiency and environmental performance while providing customers with greater flexibility in how offshore survey projects are delivered."

OMS is also assessing how the EM124 performs in an autonomous setting, including survey-line consistency, data quality, workflows and quality assurance processes.

"From a survey perspective, the early results are extremely encouraging," said Maxime Even, Director of Marine Survey at OMS Group.

"The combination of the Exail DriX O-16 platform and the Kongsberg EM124 is demonstrating the stability and data quality required for deepwater bathymetric acquisition. We are seeing strong performance across survey lines, which is essential when supporting full ocean-depth cable route surveys where data accuracy and consistency are critical. The SAT programme allows us to validate not only payload performance, but also the operational workflows and quality assurance processes that underpin reliable offshore survey delivery."

USV Elite is expected to complement conventional survey methods and may later be integrated with autonomous underwater systems and remote operations technology. Survey work is also expected to be supported through a planned Remote Operations Centre in Singapore, which would provide centralised oversight for autonomous offshore assets.

Broader shift

The testing programme is helping the group establish procedures and controls ahead of commercial use of the vessel.

"What we are validating is not only the vessel and survey payload performance, but also the operational model that sits behind it," said René d'Avezac de Moran, Chief Operating Officer of OMS Group.

"The ability to safely and efficiently deploy autonomous survey systems at scale will become increasingly important as demand for offshore survey data continues to grow. The SAT programme is helping us establish the procedures, controls and operational confidence required for future commercial deployment."

OMS also pointed to lower fuel use than conventional crewed survey vessels, saying long-range uncrewed vessels can reduce operational emissions, lower offshore personnel requirements and improve deployment efficiency.

The company has been expanding its role across the subsea infrastructure market through survey, engineering, installation, maintenance and infrastructure ownership. It operates through two divisions, OMS Telco and LitUp Network, and its marine fleet includes five owned active cable vessels, with four more under construction.

The current testing of USV Elite forms part of that broader shift as OMS seeks to move beyond its roots as a marine contractor into a wider digital infrastructure business.