Argeo AS: Argeo order a newbuild AUV and secures a significant survey contract

Apr 23, 2021 | News

Asker, 22 April 2021: Argeo has placed an order for a newbuild SeaRaptor 6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle “AUV” from Teledyne Gavia with delivery taking place in the beginning of 2022 at a cost of NOK 65 million. The delivery includes several ancillary system components, software and crew training.

In parallel with acquiring the AUV Argeo has secured a deep-water survey in the Pacific region for an un-named scheduled in several projects over a three year period (“The Campaign”) with a total contract value estimated between NOK 30-40 million and potential for further extension.

Teledyne Gavia SeaRaptor 6000

The Company is pleased to announce that the design, specification, and procurement of the AUV have been successfully carried out in close cooperation with Teledyne Gavia, a global leader in the provision of Unmanned Maritime Systems, Teledyne Marine. The detailed work carried out ensures that Argeo will receive a state-of-art high specification AUV. The AUV is modular and very mobile (air transportable) with supporting systems which can be strategically placed in our Geomarkets for rapid deployment between regions. All data collected will be processed onboard (the AUV) using onboard-postprocessing and mosaicking software to allow quick turnaround during missions and improved decision making for the customer. The cost of the AUV is approximately NOK 65 million.

The AUV system will be the Company’s second vehicle contributing to our growing robotics fleet and enable deep-sea surveys to the benefit of marine industries including:  Installations & Infrastructure, Offshore Wind, Oil & Gas and Deep Sea Minerals.

Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) contract

The AUV is scheduled to start work on a deep-sea mineral and environmental impact study campaign in the Pacific region immediately after completing Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) of the AUV. The Campaign contract value over the period of three years is estimated between NOK 30 to 40 million. The Company intend to further upscale project activity in the region with the system already present thus reducing mobilization cost for our customers needing high-quality deep-sea data.

Mr. Trond F. Crantz, CEO of Argeo commented as follows:

“The ordering of this newbuild AUV and signing it off on a significant survey contract straight away, proves that Argeo already has put our recent private placement to good use and why our investors strongly believe in our vision and capability. With this investment and contract Argeo become one of the very first Norwegian companies committed and engaged in the growing Deep Sea Mineral market. This also ensures that Norway will have a solid and experienced service provider available in the coming exploration activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This exciting opportunity will bring new information back as to the nature and composition of the deepest parts of the planet. The presence in the region will enable other project opportunities in all our market segments in addition to potential MultiClient data projects.”

For more information, please contact:

Trond Figenschou Crantz, CEO

Email: trond.crantz@argeo.no

Phone: +47 976 37 273

Argeo in brief

Argeo is a company with a mission to transform the ocean surveying and inspection industry by utilizing autonomous surface and underwater robotics solutions. Equipped with unique sensors and advanced digital imaging technology, the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (“AUVs”) will significantly increase efficiency and imaging quality in addition to contribute to significant reduction in CO2 emissions from operations for the global industry in which the Company operates. The Company’s highly accurate digital models and digital twin solutions are based on geophysical, hydrographic and geological methods from shallow waters to the deepest oceans for market segments in Infrastructure, Offshore Wind, Oil & Gas and Deep Sea Minerals.

Argeo was established in 2017 and has offices in Asker and Tromsø, Norway. Since its incorporation, Argeo has carried out complex projects for some of Norway’s largest companies in the field.

SeaRaptor 6000 Deep Water Autonomous Vehicle

SeaRaptor 6000 Sensors and Payload specification

The AUV will be equipped with the latest Kraken MinSAS 120 Synthetic Aperture Sonar (Kraken Robotics, Canada) providing large swath area coverage and high-resolution imagery and bathymetry data collection. The vehicle will also be fitted with a Teledyne Reason T50-S Multi-Beam dual frequency 200/400 kHz Echo Sounder,a Teledyne Benthos Chirp III Sub Bottom Profiler, an iXblue PHINS 6000 INS coupled to a Teledyne RDI Tasman DVL, and a CathX Hunter Camera System.

The AUV is also fitted with a large variety of scientific sensors which will take Conductivity, Temperature, Pressure, Turbidity, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Redox, CH4 and Magnetic measurements to provide valuable water column data which will contribute to better ocean basin characterizations.

The SeaRaptor 6000 AUV will be supplied in a 30-foot container hosting its Launch and Recovery System, all deck support and handling equipment and a spares set to offer the highest redundancy and availability of the system. The vehicle is designed to be air transportable, including its Li-Ion Batteries which feature capacity for long endurance missions

Argeo Venture status update

Argeo Venture status update

We are pleased that the Argeo Venture project is progressing according to plan, and we would like to further share that the vessel has completed the first part of the sea trials after the upgrade last week. The vessel is performing very well, and all maritime systems are now GO. Later this week…