The rapid rise of robot boats

Fugro is one of the world's leading marine geophysical survey companies. It's building a fleet of Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) to assist its operations at sea. The fleet is called Blue Essence. It currently comprises two boats. They are controlled at a distance, from the other side of the planet if needs be. The USVs are used for surveying the ocean floor and for inspecting oil-and-gas, wind farm, and power installations. The USVs can deploy and recover robotic subs.

Video courtesy of Fugro.