Boston-based technology and shipbuilding company Blue Water Autonomy has been selected for a multiple-award contract by the US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) to provide high-resolution ocean floor mapping using long-endurance uncrewed surface vessels (USVs).
The award is part of a multi-year, multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $40 million. Blue Water Autonomy will compete for individual task orders alongside the other selected contractors.
According to the company, the contract supports deep open-ocean survey missions, which require vessels to operate hundreds to thousands of nautical miles offshore for extended periods. These surveys provide detailed seafloor maps while also collecting environmental data, including terrain, underwater acoustics, and changing ocean conditions that influence naval operations.
Traditionally carried out by crewed survey ships, such missions can cost tens of thousands of dollars per day. NAVOCEANO has increasingly incorporated uncrewed systems into its survey operations to reduce costs, lower risks to personnel, and expand the amount of ocean that can be surveyed with fewer assets.
"Mapping the open ocean is exactly the kind of long, high-endurance work that autonomous vessels are built for," said Rylan Hamilton, CEO of Blue Water Autonomy.
"This selection puts our autonomy to work across the Indian and Pacific oceans, well beyond the range of a crewed survey ship, and it shows the technology we are building serves many different missions," Hamilton added.
Blue Water Autonomy said its autonomous surface vessels are designed to conduct long-duration operations in remote maritime environments, supporting naval missions that require persistent presence without onboard crews.
The latest contract marks another step in the US Navy's broader effort to integrate autonomous platforms into oceanographic surveying and other maritime operations.