The U.S. Army recently observed live testing of a commercial offshore supply ship retrofitted with autonomous navigation controls. The vessel, named the HOS Resolution and owned by Hornbeck Offshore, measures 257 feet (78 meters) in length and was converted within nine days by Sea Machines Robotics using its SM300 autonomous hardware and software package.
During the trials, the ship successfully completed an 18-hour autonomous transit from Pearl Harbor to Hawaii’s Big Island. The integration utilized a deployable kit of sensors, cameras, and computer systems designed to fit onto existing marine platforms, eliminating the need to engineer a new class of robotic vessels from scratch, as reported by The Defence Blog.
While Sea Machines has previously worked on smaller uncrewed vessel projects for U.S. Navy programs, the HOS Resolution represents a substantially larger platform conversion. Specific details regarding contract costs, future military testing schedules, or additional conversions remain undisclosed.
