In the final week of November, a Dutch Naval Design consortium comprising eight organisations conducted extensive trials with two commercial unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in and around Scheveningen harbour. These trials and the related project are funded by the Dutch Ministry of Defence and support the Defence Innovation Agenda. The unmanned vessels, owned by FUGRO and DEMCON respectively, showcased their capabilities under demanding conditions, including autumn storms.

The unmanned vessels showcased their capabilities under demanding conditions. The unmanned vessels showcased their capabilities under demanding conditions.

The trials were coordinated from the CAMPUS@Sea facility, in front of the North Sea test site of SeaSEC in Scheveningen, which served as the command and control centre. Vessel movements within the harbour and at sea were managed in close collaboration with local authorities. The primary focus of the trials was to evaluate the different onboard sensors’ ability to deliver high-quality situational awareness. This data supports autonomous decision-making algorithms and is integrated with inputs from remote operators.

In addition to demonstrating significant technical advancements, the trials provided a valuable platform for cross-domain knowledge exchange among the participating organisations. The trials also yielded a wealth of validation data, which will be analysed in the coming weeks. This data is expected to not only refine the current systems but also inform and support future design choices, ensuring continued innovation and development for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The consortium—comprising AVR Maritime, Damen Naval, DEMCON, FUGRO, MARIN, RH Marine and SkyDec—reflects on a highly successful and productive week of collaboration in which steps were made to develop maritime autonomy in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Defence.

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