Coast Guard to Test Unmanned Surface Vehicles off Hawaiian Shores

Coast Guard. Unmanned surface vehicles. Stock photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate

If you’re out on the water and see a coast guard vessel without a driver, don’t be alarmed. Everything is normal.

The US Coast Guard Research and Development Center, in partnership with local CG units, will conduct tests and evaluation of unmanned surface vehicles off the south shore of O‘ahu from Oct. 7 through Nov. 5, 2020.

The tests will focus on autonomous vessel systems from Saildrone and Spatial Integration Systems, in addition to a USCG-owned autonomous research vessel produced by Metal Shark.

This evaluation will examine each vessel’s ability to provide persistent maritime domain awareness, especially in remote ocean areas. While potentially applicable to several CG missions, there is potential these technologies will enable the CG to better protect critical natural living marine resources from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and other illicit activities.