Major industry announcements and new product launches continued to drive significant visitor numbers and plentiful business activity as Oceanology International 2026 surpassed expectations on the second day at Excel London.

From high-profile acquisitions and the unveiling of the latest autonomous vehicles to a world first in fibre rope, Oi26 delivered key breakthrough innovations and game-changing solutions, reinforcing the event’s status as the global launch platform for ocean technology.

Among the companies taking centre stage, expanding platform OceanSight used Oi to unveil its new collection of ocean technology brands built to advance marine sensing and subsea intelligence, celebrating an exciting new chapter focused on accelerating innovation and strategic growth.

OceanSight, unveiled by XPV Water Partners earlier this month, is building a differentiated platform focused on technologies that enable greater understanding and visibility beneath the ocean surface.

The company announced the acquisition of Sound Metrics, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-resolution acoustic imaging sonar systems used in underwater inspection, monitoring, and security applications.

“Sound Metrics brings highly differentiated technology and a strong reputation for innovation in underwater imaging,” said Mike Read, Chief Executive Officer of OceanSight. “Together with Ocean Floor Geophysics and Neptune Sonar, Sound Metrics strengthens OceanSight’s ability to provide a comprehensive suite of subsea sensing and imaging solutions that help customers better understand and operate in challenging underwater environments.”

Hampidjan Advant, a specialist in crafting premium HMPE and Aramid ropes, introduced TechIce, a fibre rope that outperforms all other ropes, and steel wire. Unique among synthetic fibre ropes, the next generation winch rope can accommodate very high working temperatures without suffering strength loss or permanent elongation.

David Waage, Chairman, Hampidjan Advant, said: “This year’s Oceanology International is surpassing expectations. We returned once again this year as the event is the best meeting place for the oceanographic community. TechIce is the first fibre rope in the world to be able to withstand the most challenging conditions, with the same strength as steel wires, and represents a breakthrough in safety. We have particularly appreciated the chance to discuss the product with winch companies attending this year.”

Deep tech company WSense launched WCloud, its live, cloud‑based platform that powers next‑generation wireless underwater monitoring and communication systems, offering Oi attendees the chance to experience the latest in Underwater Digital Intelligence.

The wireless underwater network is capable of integrating and visualising dozens of sensors at once, delivering real time underwater visualisation, advanced analytics for smarter decisions and generative AI powered insights and KPIs.

On the booth, visitors explored actual data streams, immersive dashboards, and the tools that transform underwater data into actionable intelligence for environmental, industrial, and security applications.

Cosimo Palmisano, Head of Business Development, WSense, said: “Oi is the most relevant conference for underwater tech, and for us to meet partners and keep in touch with the industry. We presented two technical papers this year, so it has been a showcase, integrated branded event for us as a growth company.”

Teledyne Marine continued its high-profile presence at this year’s event with the introduction of the new SeaBat T51-S Integrated Dual Head and SeaBat T51-R Integrated Dual Head. The latest evolution of the proven T51 platform integrates dual sonar heads into a single processor. This configuration increases along-track density and swath coverage while reducing onboard hardware footprint, cabling complexity and installation cost, enabling more efficient, high-resolution survey operations.

Visitors experienced the SeaBat T51-R Integrated Dual Head in action aboard the Maplin, operating alongside Teledyne’s Compact Navigator for the first time ever.

RBR introduced the Generation⁴ compact logger family – the next evolution of its most widely deployed instruments. Built on decades of field-proven performance, the RBRsolo⁴ (single sensor) and RBRduet⁴ (dual sensor) compact loggers introduce multi-rate sampling regimes, faster data downloads, and virtually infinite memory.

The company also announced the arrival of the RBRduraturo⁴, the newest addition to the RBR instrument family. Built in a larger 100mm form factor and designed for longer, more data-intensive measurement campaigns, the RBRduraturo⁴ delivers the flexibility and performance required for very long-term deployments or applications where high-frequency data is desired.

Lastly, adding to an already impressive range of sensors, RBR launched the RBRcoda chl-asensor – a real-time chlorophyll-a sensor engineered for exceptional sensitivity, efficiency, and reliability, even at extreme ocean depths.

Informing visitors via expert talks on its stand, EIVA’s main announcement on Wednesday was the introduction of NaviSuite ROV Autonomy, standardising ROV inspections.

Hoytek, manufacturer of electric thrust ROVs from observation to heavy work class, showcased its compact and versatile Myra ROV. The 600m depth rated, powerful, but small observation class ROV has capability to add various payloads in five minutes.

Tethys Robotics ran in-water demonstrations of the Tethys ONE ROV, designed for asset owners, offshore operators, and subsea service providers looking to enhance their inspection capabilities.

During the session, they showcased omnidirectional maneuverability and precise station-keeping, exceptional stability for high-quality data capture, rapid deployment and compact logistics footprint, and real-time video and inspection data performance.

Attendees witnessed how Tethys ONE enables efficient subsea inspections while reducing operational complexity and downtime.

Voyis Imaging Inc. announced the launch of the Discovery Stereo Perception Series, a new class of subsea stereo vision systems engineered to enhance piloting awareness and enable autonomous underwater operations through real-time 3D perception.

Designed to function as the eyes of subsea vehicles, the system replaces traditional single-camera configurations with real-time stereo vision and 3D depth perception. Wide-angle stereo imaging combined with onboard processing generates dense depth maps and live point clouds, delivering reliable spatial awareness in complex underwater environments.

First-time exhibitors ARDITI (the Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation) is at Oi alongside Invest Madeira, showcasing what the island is doing regarding the ocean and blue economy. In addition to its stand, the company featured on the Coastal Zone Management panel, discussing how to explore advanced marine technologies, integrated data systems and innovative spatial planning are transforming coastal zone management.

Barbara Rodrigues, Head of Marketing and Communications, said: “We came to Oi as part of our pre-market positioning after a huge investment in our platform as it is the biggest event in ocean technology. It has been amazing and overwhelming to be here and to experience such good receptiveness from the community.”

Offering the world an unrivalled glimpse into the evolution of the ocean enterprise, Oceanology International 2026 is showcasing the future in action for visitors and attendees from 10^th to 12^thMarch at Excel London.

An unprecedented 150 companies from around the globe are revealing their new technologies and solutions, confirming Oi as the ocean science and technology community’s premier event for the industry to introduce cutting-edge innovations and make exclusive announcements.

With a new COAST exhibition focus and conference track for 2026, the largest ever Oi is hosting over 450+ exhibiting companies from over 30 countries and is expected to welcome more than 8,000 international attendees across the three days of the show.

The third and final day of Oi26 takes place on Thursday 12^th March.

Oceanology International 2026 visitor registration is open via the Oi26 website.