Finally, the first two hulls of the Reach Remote fleet have arrived in Brevik from Lithuania and are now safely in place in the large hall at the shipyard. – These are the first two boats to be built in Trosvik since the start-up in 2020. Therefore, this is of course an extra proud moment for us. We are both grateful and humbled by the assignment, and are embarking on the project with great enthusiasm, says a satisfied Trosvik CEO, Jan Brønsten.
– In April 2022, Trosvik Maritime AS received the exciting task of building the two sister ships. The client is Kongsberg Maritime AS, which is behind both design and technology. The end customer is Reach Remote AS, says Jan Brønsten.
Unmanned inspection vessels Marcel Roumans is the project manager for Trosvik, and can say that the two boats are 24 meters long and 8 meters wide, and are so-called USVs – Unmanned Surface Vessels – i.e. unmanned inspection vessels.
– Reach Subsea is a leading supplier of subsea services. The two USVs that Trosvik is now building will be central to the company’s unique Reach Remote concept, which aims to offer a portfolio of underwater services from a fleet of autonomous, cost-effective, low-emission vessels. It will contribute to major savings both in relation to the environment, fuel use and staffing, says Roumans.
From Lithuania to Brevik The hulls themselves were built by Trosvik’s subcontractor Passer SIDC, an industrial workshop in the city of Klaipeda in Lithuania. From there they were towed on barges to Brevik, where they were recently lifted ashore, and are now ready to be completed in the large shipyard hall at Trosvik. The ships are scheduled to be delivered during the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2024, says Marcel Roumans.
Heavy lift: The first of the two hulls on its way into the main hall at Trosvik where the two boats will be completed.
Reach Remote will lift subsea operations to a new level – It is a milestone in the project to reach this phase where the hulls have arrived in Norway and where the phase with technology equipment is underway, says Bjørg Mathisen Døving, who is VP at Reach Remote. – Our Reach Remote fleet is expected to contribute to subsea operations being lifted to another level and we are experiencing great interest in the market, she says.
Very advanced technology from Kongsberg Maritime – Kongsberg is a turnkey supplier of these advanced vessels to Reach Remote, says Svein Kleven, SVP Solutions Kongsberg Maritime. – We are therefore very pleased to see the hulls arrive in Norway. This is an important milestone for us, which Trosvik has now delivered. We are now moving into a new phase in the project where Trosvik Maritime will complete equipment and carry out verification and testing. These vessels will be equipped with highly advanced technology and solutions from Kongsberg Maritime, so that they will be able to operate without a crew on board and will be controlled from Massterly’s operations center in Horten. The cooperation with class and flag state is very important for us to realize this solution, and it will be equally important for us on the way forward in terms of the regulatory and infrastructure we need to succeed, says Svein Kleven in SVP Solutions Kongsberg.
Ripple effects locally – All the companies in Trosvik are involved in the new building project. In addition, we obviously need many services from subcontractors where we use several local actors in Grenland, concludes Brønsten.