AWARDS 2025 | Best Medium Research USV – Pioneer – Ad Hoc Marine Designs

This groundbreaking 14.2-metre unmanned surface vehicle (USV) represents a significant advancement in unmanned ocean survey and monitoring technology.

Featuring a SWATH hull design combined with hybrid electric and hydrogen propulsion, Pioneer delivers seakeeping stability comparable to a monohull vessel three times its length and ten times its displacement, enabling high-quality data collection in challenging open-ocean conditions where smaller monohull USVs typically struggle.

Pioneer supports a wide range of survey, monitoring, and data collection missions across the offshore energy, marine conservation, and security sectors. Its combination of superior stability, long endurance, low emissions, and autonomous capability makes it a highly efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional crewed vessels.

"The initial objective was to have a USV that can carry more and stay out and operate in higher sea states compared to existing USVs," John Kecsmar, co-founder of UK-based Ad Hoc Marine Designs, told Baird Maritime. "Pioneer is unique in that she does not rely on high speed to achieve a time-critical mission or to avoid an increasing sea state. She relies on her seakeeping superiority over conventional-hulled USVs, and coupled to that is the ability to safely carry up to six tonnes of payload in high sea states."

Kecsmar explained that at the time of conception, he knows of no other USV that can operate safely in seas of two-metre significant wave heights and still carry a six-tonne payload.

"During sea trails, the chase boat had to slow down and eventually stop, thereby proving the design objective, which is to operate beyond the range of currently available USVs, had been achieved."

Kecsmar said that the main difficulty encountered during the project was due to the craft's SWATH configuration.

"SWATHs operate on a fixed draught profile. Being autonomous, the design needed to take into account how the range of operational profiles would influence the draught and its subsequent potential change in motions. Several novel means were explored to ensure operations under different mission profiles."

The delivery of Pioneer was completed at around the beginning of 2025, which Kecsmar said was a year characterised by "mixed" results in business for Ad Hoc, though this was offset by a large number of new projects in the UK as well as Europe, Asia, the US, and the Middle East. These projects covered a range of vessels including small USVs and large ocean-going rescue platforms, hence his observation that business is "picking up."

As for the USV industry, Kecsmar believes the current singular market will be split into two, with small, single-use USVs on one side and long-range, security-optimised counterparts on the other. He has also observed that 3D printing will become more commonplace.

Meanwhile, within Britain's workboat industry, Kecsmar said that the industry will require continued support from the government lest it diminish further. To emphasise this, he cited the UK's own USV and offshore vessel markets as examples.

"Current statutory legislations by the MCA make it almost impossible to operate a USV," he told Baird Maritime. "Thus, many USVs [in the UK] are now built and operated from the EU where the rules appear to be somewhat more forgiving. There is also the notion that the UK windfarm industry will need a further 200 boats in the coming years, but there is no confirmation yet as to where these boats will be sourced.

"The UK Government therefore needs to step up and be ahead of the curve, not lagging behind and hoping it will improve."