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A consortium led by ACUA Ocean has secured UK government backing to develop a new class of medium-sized uncrewed support vessels capable of operating in high sea states.
The Project MROS consortium, which includes Houlder, Ad Hoc Marine Designs, Trident Marine, and the University of Southampton, was awarded funding in May 2025 under the UK Department for Transport’s CMDC programme. Since the award, the partners have been advancing designs for the 145ft (43m) vessel. The project has moved into resistance and seakeeping tank testing led by the University of Southampton’s Marine & Maritime Institute and the Wolfson Unit.
The new vessel utilizes a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) design, optimized for low motions and platform stability. It is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system, with prototype designs exploring methanol fuel to improve efficiency, performance, and maintainability while reducing emissions compared to hydrogen, ammonia, or diesel variants. This architecture builds upon the data gathered from ACUA’s 46ft (14m) Pioneer-class USV, which recently achieved UK Maritime Coastguard Agency Workboat Code 3 regulatory approval.
Functionally, the USV is designed to operate in autonomous or remote modes, or effectively as an optionally crewed vessel via a modular accommodation pod. The engineering specifications permit operations in Sea State 6+ with DP1 station keeping capabilities. The vessel offers a range of 2,500 nautical miles, an endurance of over 20 days, and a sprint speed exceeding 20 knots.
To support tasks such as offshore logistics, maritime surveillance, and subsea intervention, the vessel provides an 80-tonne payload capacity. It features a moonpool configured to house twin launch and recovery systems for underwater payloads, including tethered or untethered ROVs and XUUVs. The cargo and payload bays are designed to accommodate ISO-standard transport container footprints (TEU and FEU), simplifying logistical management and the interchangeability of mission equipment.
Neil Tinmouth, CEO of ACUA Ocean, said, “The MROS project builds on ACUA Ocean’s proven ability to deploy proven and certified vessels. Most excitingly, this new design offers significant capability and cost-saving benefits over other USVs currently in development; delivering new solutions for a range of offshore commercial partners.”
In the coming months, ACUA intends to announce strategic partnerships with systems developers to create a suite of compatible mission payloads for both the Pioneer and MROS platforms.
