Maritime Robotics and Eelume, two world-leading Norwegian technology companies, have entered into a strategic partnership to combine their autonomous systems for ocean exploration, monitoring, and security operations.

Complementary technologies

The collaboration brings together Maritime Robotics’ expertise in Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Eelume’s highly manoeuvrable, all-terrain Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). By integrating these two complementary technologies, the companies aim to significantly reduce both operational costs and environmental emissions associated with ocean data collection, inspection, and exploration.

“This collaboration marks an important step toward more efficient and sustainable marine operations,” said Eirik Hovstein, Vice President Defence & Security at Maritime Robotics.

“By combining our USV technology with Eelume’s flexible, all-terrain AUV systems, we can offer customers a fully autonomous surface–subsea solution that reduces the need for traditional vessels and personnel”, Hovstrein says.

Thomas Nygaard, CEO Eelume and Eirik Hovstein, Vice President Defence & Security, Maritime Robotics. Photo: Lars Bugge Aarset/Fremtidens Industri

Complete solution for high-risk maritime operations

The integrated USV–AUV system can be controlled and supervised from both fixed and portable Remote Operation Centres (ROC), enabling true remote and distributed operations anywhere in the world. This flexibility allows operators to plan, execute, and monitor complex missions across diverse environments, from shallow coastal waters to deep-sea installations, without deploying crewed vessels.

“Our uncrewed surface drones and technology are superior when it comes to efficient and autonomous data collection from the surface, but with Eelume’s ability to operate below the waterline we can now offer a complete solution. This is not just a partnership agreement, but a milestone that redefines how we carry out, at times high-risk maritime operations”, Hovstein says.

Eelume’s highly manoeuvrable, AUV is designed for long-duration subsea missions across challenging environments, while Maritime Robotics’ USVs act as a surface gateway for communication, control, and data relay. Together, the systems enable persistent, wide-area, and remotely controlled missions with minimal human intervention, a key enabler for the future of autonomous ocean exploration and defense readiness.

Eirik Hovstein and Thomas Nygaard. Photo from Forsvarskonferansen 2025, Lars Bugge Aarset/Fremtidens Industri

Opportunities for industry and defense

“By bringing together two world-leading autonomous technologies, this collaboration represents a major step toward more sustainable, cost-efficient, and knowledge-driven ocean operations,” said Thomas Nygaard, Chief Executive Officer at Eelume.

“By combining our highly manoeuvrable, all-terrain AUV with Maritime Robotics’ USV featuring electric propulsion, we can in practice eliminate CO₂ emissions from mapping and survey operations. At the same time, the combination of autonomous, fully electric systems enables significant cost reductions — in some cases more than 90 percent compared to traditional vessel-based approaches. This represents an important societal step toward greener and more cost-effective ocean activity.”

Nygaard also emphasized the growing importance of seabed monitoring. “The ability to understand and monitor the seabed is becoming increasingly critical, and the needs are more time-sensitive than ever. From a security perspective, continuous seabed awareness, rapid response, and scalable solutions are crucial in addressing a dynamic threat landscape. At the same time, better knowledge of the ocean environment is essential for making informed and responsible decisions about the management of marine resources.”

The complementary solutions from Eelume and Maritime Robotics are highly scalable, ranging from compact systems that can be mobilized directly from a van, to larger ship-integrated solutions that act as a force multiplier through swarm or armada operations. Together, the companies enable a sustainable, secure, and cost-efficient approach to managing and understanding the oceans — with solutions ready to meet today’s challenges.

Read also: Maritime Robotics delivers the brain for new Danish super sea drone

Maritime Robotics largest USV “Mariner X”. Photo: Maritime Robotics

Norwegian leadership in ocean technology

The partnership demonstrates Norway’s position in ocean technology, combining innovation, autonomy, and environmental responsibility to meet the growing demand for sustainable and secure marine operations.

Maritime Robotics and Eelume are both members of the Ocean Autonomy Cluster and incubator companies in the FI Ocean Space Incubator. In addition, Maritime Robotics is a member of the NORDSEC Defence and Security Cluster, and both companies were represented at this year’s Defence Conference.

Together with the Ocean Autonomy Cluster and the NTNU Shore Control Lab, they are also contributing to a new project focused on the development of Remote Operation Centres (ROC), strengthening the position in autonomous and distributed ocean operations.

Thomas Nygaard presenting Eelume S AUV to Minister of Defence, Tore O. Sandvik. Photo: Lars Bugge Aarset/Fremtidens Industri