ACUA Ocean took their next step in development with a naming ceremony for their USV, Pioneer, at their home base of Turnchapel Wharf in Plymouth.
The UK-based autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV) developer began their Pioneer-class programme in 2022 through funding from the UK Department of Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.
Turnchapel Wharf is the former home to the 539 Assault Squadron and owned by the Ministry of Defence. A little over a decade ago, Yacht Havens Group acquired the freehold to the site it has been redeveloped into the Home of UK Maritime Autonomy with companies such as Thales, Fugro, Marine AI, Zero USV and Oshen developing their state-of-the-art marine autonomous systems, vessels and services at the site.
ACUA Ocean arrived at Turnchapel Wharf in mid-2024 and began assembling their new USV design. Initial concepts and designs were developed by naval architect John Kecsmar of Ad Hoc Marine Design, a global leader in small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) vessel design. In late-2024, the boat hit the water for the first time and is midway through a three-month period of sea trials and crucial regulatory checks ahead of demonstrations in March 2025.
It takes the support of a community to build a startup
The naming ceremony represented a significant milestone for the ACUA team with the ceremonial champagne bottle broken on her hull by ACUA Ocean Chair Marta Krupinska.
The champagne bottle selected itself had a story; awarded to ACUA as winners of the 2021 Rapid Challenge Competition for the most innovative UK engineering startup. The Naming Ceremony thus represented the culmination of many years of team work, as captured in Marta's address to the crowd:
"There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child; and ACUA is proof that it takes the support of a community to build a startup."
A celebration for ACUA and partners
The day saw the celebration of all those involved in PIONEER's build, with CEO Neil Tinmouth thanking the partners, funders and supporters who have supported ACUA on this journey and sharing ACUA's vision a platform for collaboration in the deployment of sensors and payloads.
Amongst the afternoon panels Dr Peter Collinson was joined in conversation by Caroline Price of The Crown Estate, Olivia Brooks of Blue Action and Alistair Fox of BP to discuss the growing use cases and opportunities for maritime technology.
Panel of Speakers
John Hunnibell was later joined by Will Alexander of BMT, Cmdr Mark Butcher of the Royal Navy and James Cowles from ACUA to discuss accelerating the adoption of dual-use technology in the defence sector and what can be done to support SMEs to partner and collaborate in the space.
Congratulations to all involved in ACUA's development to-date - we look forward to seeing USV Pioneer continue her journey in the months ahead!
