Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs)
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Italian survey contractor Subsea Fenix has taken delivery of USV Fenix 01, a 5.7-metre battery-hybrid uncrewed surface vessel manufactured by HydroSurv that integrates hydrographic survey and remote subsea inspection capabilities into a single modular platform.
Built on HydroSurv’s REAV-60 platform, the vessel represents HydroSurv’s first delivery into the Italian market. The acquisition builds on Subsea Fenix’s experience in uncrewed operations, which began in 2018 with compact 1.5-metre platforms across more than 400 survey projects in inshore, nearshore, and offshore environments. Seeking a larger asset to support a wider array of hydrographic, geophysical, and subsea inspection missions, company owners Stefano Mancini and Ivan Malavolti evaluated HydroSurv’s REAV platforms in South West England in December 2025.
Stefano Mancini, CEO of Subsea Fenix, commented, “REAV was the natural choice for us, thanks to its versatile and fully customisable platform. HydroSurv proved to be focused on customer needs and helped us select the right system for our needs. Their offer ranges from very small, coastal-type vessels to large, long-range vessels, with full flexibility in terms of the sensors to be integrated.
“We were impressed by their “can-do” approach and the possibility to integrate any tool or sensor on the platform, but what really convinced us to move with HydroSurv was the flexible approach to convert the REAV-60 from pure survey platform (including multibeam, side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiling) to a fully remote ROV platform, integrating our Saab Seaeye Falcon on the vessel.
“HydroSurv has been fully committed in developing our ideas, overcoming engineering challenges and integrating on such a compact platform all that we wanted. This is the first system of a series we plan to add to our fleet, and HydroSurv will be, amongst other partners, part of our journey.”
Engineering updates for the REAV-60 platform incorporate twin steerable 11kW Rim Drive Technology pod drives designed for low-speed control, station-keeping, and line-keeping. The power architecture features separate AC and DC generation systems alongside a 48V electrical system shared with the REAV-47 platform family.
For hydrographic and geophysical tasks, USV Fenix 01 accommodates a survey skid equipped with a Teledyne T51 multibeam echosounder, Innomar sub-bottom profiler, EdgeTech 4125i towed side-scan sonar, and Sonardyne MiniRanger 2 USBL. For subsea inspection, the payload switches to an ROV skid with a SAAB Seaeye Falcon inspection-class ROV capable of operating to depths of 300 metres, alongside a Launch and Recovery System (LARS) configured for the HydroPACT 660 pipe tracker.
Development of the platform follows IMCA M257 guidelines across three distinct phases. The vessel completed Category A commissioning (vessel-mounted equipment) in August. Integration of a LARS for towed systems is underway to achieve Category B status (side scan and magnetometer deployment) by year-end, while Category C status (active ROV/ROTV deployment) is planned for completion by Q1 2027.
David Hull, Founder & CEO of HydroSurv, said, “During initial discussions with Stefano and Ivan in December last year, it was clear that Subsea Fenix already had clear ideas of what they needed to achieve with the USV, but also with the ambition to challenge us on what a REAV-60 could be capable of. USV Fenix 01 is a good example of what can happen when the platform design authority and the operator work together at the outset rather than treating an uncrewed vessel as a fixed product.”
Stefano Mancini added, “What Subsea Fenix is doing today is a step toward the vision that began back in 2018 and that over time has evolved into the company’s current development plan. Our goal is to revolutionise the way offshore activities are performed, reducing risks, emissions and providing clients more efficient projects delivered on time, with cost efficiency and decarbonisation as key drivers. We aim to become the benchmark for maritime asset digitalisation, redefining subsea and surface inspection standards through automation and artificial intelligence, performing business in a sustainable manner.
“The USV Fenix 01 is our first contribution to future proof operations, to allow our customers to take full advantage of the revolution we are preparing, where people work from the office, assets are designed for the projects they need to perform and not adapting projects to what the market can offer, which leads to inefficient projects. Our mission is not to steer the company” towards” the future but getting Subsea Fenix and its Clients “into” the future. With today’s delivery of the USV Fenix 01 vehicle, the first of a series of unmanned/remote vehicles, Subsea Fenix is now able to provide the future to its clients.”
Subsea Fenix was founded in 2013 in Ravenna, Italy, deriving its name from the Italian word for Phoenix to represent continuous evolution and transformation. By deploying uncrewed assets to replace elements of conventional vessel mobilization, the firm expects to reduce operational cost, mobilization time, and personnel requirements while improving nearshore accessibility and advancing offshore decarbonisation.
