Can I buy underwater robots directly on Underwater Robots?

No. Underwater Robots is an editorial guide; choosing a vehicle or requesting a quote continues on thehumanoidgroup.com.

Why do some underwater robots show Request a Quote?

Some makers price per configuration, with options such as longer tethers, extra sensors or grippers. Request a quote on The Humanoid Group and describe your site and task.

Can I order several units for a team?

Yes. Choose your quantity on The Humanoid Group, or request a quote when you're equipping several vessels, sites or teams.

What depth rating do I need?

Choose a rating comfortably beyond the deepest point you plan to work, and remember that tether length, current and visibility often limit you before depth does.

Do I need training to pilot an ROV?

Basic control of a compact underwater drone is usually quick to learn, but confident piloting in current and near structures takes practice. Check local rules for operating near ports, vessels and protected areas.

Where can I follow underwater robotics news?

News & Updates on The Humanoid Group follows launches, research and deployments across the robotics industry.

Underwater Robots · Part of The Humanoid Group

More subsea work is going to robots.

Compact ROVs, long-range AUVs and bio-inspired swimmers are taking on inspection, farming and ocean science. See what is changing, then plan your own vehicle with The Humanoid Group.

What moved below the waterline this year.

2–4 km² of seabed a HUGIN 6000 AUV can map per hour, diving to 6,000 meters (Ocean News & Technology, 2026)
80–90% of offshore inspection costs come from vessels and crews, Bubble says (Robotics & Automation News, 2026)
540 m² of hull cleaned per hour by Greensea IQ's EverClean robots, typically (Marine Technology News, 2026)
10–30% more fuel a ship with a fouled hull can burn (Marine Technology News, 2026)

Kongsberg to build an underwater AUV hangar for Inkfish's new research ship

2026-09-30 · Partnership

Kongsberg Maritime will supply an AUV hangar and launch and recovery system for a research vessel that VARD is building for Inkfish. It lets HUGIN AUVs launch, recover and dock below the surface through a moonpool. Assembly and testing take place in Brattvåg, Norway, with delivery planned for the end of 2027.

Why it matters: Launch and recovery through the wave zone is where many AUV missions get cut short. Docking below the surface stretches the weather window, which changes how many survey days a vehicle actually delivers each year.

Source: Ocean News & Technology

Omega Subsea signs a five-year deal to run ROVs on two NKT cable-laying ships

2026-09-25 · Deployment

Norway's Omega Subsea will mobilize ROV systems on NKT's cable layers NKT Victoria and NKT Eleonora under a five-year agreement. Four of eight new Kystdesign ROVs due in 2026 will serve NKT work, Victoria starts before year-end, and Omega expects its fleet to pass 30 systems by mid-2028.

Why it matters: Subsea power cables for offshore wind need ROVs for trenching support, touchdown monitoring and burial checks. Long cable programs are turning ROV capacity into multi-year commitments, so lead times for vehicles and launch systems matter.

Source: Offshore Energy

Vattenfall tenders ROV inspection and seabed surveys across its offshore wind farms

2026-08-06 · Market

Vattenfall launched a tender, estimated at EUR 8 million, for ROV inspections and multibeam seabed surveys at its offshore wind farms in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK. It plans to appoint up to five ROV suppliers and seven survey suppliers on two-year frameworks, with services starting in June 2027.

Why it matters: Wind farm owners are moving subsea inspection onto recurring framework contracts. Operators who can show proven vehicles, trained pilots and clean inspection data are better placed for these multi-supplier rounds.

Source: offshoreWIND.biz

Sources and further reading

IMCA R 004: The safe and efficient operation of remotely operated vehicles (Rev. 6) — International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA).
Industry guidance on ROV classes, tools, crew roles and safe working practice for offshore operations.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) — NOAA Ocean Exploration.
How tethered ROVs are built, piloted from a ship and used to film and sample the deep sea.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) — NOAA Ocean Exploration.
How untethered AUVs run pre-planned missions and why several can be deployed at once to survey the seafloor.
2023 IMO Biofouling Guidelines (resolution MEPC.378(80)) — International Maritime Organization.
IMO guidance on managing ships' hull fouling, including biofouling management plans and records of hull cleaning.
NS 9415 Floating aquaculture farms: site survey, design, execution and use — Standard Norge.
Norwegian standard for fish farm structures, including inspection and maintenance duties set out in user handbooks.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs): their past, present and future contributions to the advancement of marine geoscience — Marine Geology (Wynn et al.), via NERC Open Research Archive.
Open-access review of how AUVs raised the resolution of seafloor mapping and changed marine geoscience.
Our mission — The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project.
Explains the global effort to map the whole seafloor, with a running figure for how much is mapped so far.

ROVs vs AUVs — Tethered and piloted, or untethered and autonomous: how the two main vehicle types differ.
Inspection & Maintenance — Hulls, pipelines, harbour walls and fish farms: where underwater robots take on routine checks.
Research & Exploration — Mapping the seabed, sampling the ocean and reaching depths people cannot.
Bio-Inspired Swimmers — Robots that swim like fish, rays and eels, and what they could mean for underwater work.
ROV Pilot Training — How ROV pilots are trained and assessed, from offshore competence grades to small inshore teams.
Drones for Fish Farms — Net checks, mooring inspections and fish behaviour: how underwater drones fit into work on a fish farm.
Hull Cleaning and Biofouling — In-water hull cleaning robots, the biofouling rules behind them and what ports expect before cleaning starts.
Hobby Underwater Drones — Depth, tether, camera and handling: what to compare before buying an underwater drone for fun or filming.
Cable and Pipeline Inspection — How ROVs and AUVs follow and inspect subsea cables and pipelines, and what operators must record.
Latest updates — Offshore wind owners are buying more inspection work, research fleets are planning subsea docking, and hull robots are earning class approval. These figures and dated updates show where underwater robotics stands now.
About us — What we cover, how we source every figure, and who publishes this site.

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