The US Coast Guard has announced plans to deploy autonomous Saildrone vessels across the Great Lakes to boost maritime surveillance and security across borders.
The Great Lakes, one of the largest freshwater systems in the world, straddles the border between the US and Canada. Covering around 244,000 km2, the waterway acts as a major hub for shipping and trade between the two countries.
The vessels will be used to gather critical weather data for emergency response planning, track illicit activity and assist with maritime border security operations.
US firm Saildrone develops uncrewed surface vehicles (USV) capable of performing long-range, long-endurance missions in the open ocean to obtain real-time data.
Under this new contract with the US Coast Guard, its Explorer vessels will be deployed. Powered exclusively by renewable wind and solar energy, these seven-metre-long vessels are able to deliver continuous data collection across vast ocean regions.
These vessels have previously been...