ACUA Ocean to build second Pioneer-class USV

Above: USV Pioneer, the first in the Pioneer-class of USVs in build at Aluminium Marine Consultants in April 2024.
Courtesy ACUA Ocean

The Pioneer-class, will initially be built under the designation Pioneer Mk2 and will incorporate design optimisations including enhanced system redundancy, speed and endurance. Aluminium is scheduled to be cut on the new vessel in Q4 ahead of commissioning in summer 2026.

“This agreement marks a significant milestone as we scale our fleet ready to meet the growing demand for capable full ocean dual-use vessels” said Neil Tinmouth, CEO of ACUA Ocean. “The Pioneer-classes unique combination of robustness, reliability and a reconfigurable systems and payload in a smaller, more stable hull form differentiates her from the competition both in terms of capability and cost-effectiveness.”



Above: USV PIONEER at sea (August 2025).
Courtesy ACUA Ocean

The Pioneer-class USV has a central moonpool which enables permits easy twist-lock installation of modular interchangeable payloads:

• Up to a 20ft equivalent unit ISO container footprint
• Up to six tonnes payload mass
• Upwards of 50kW power draw dependent on USV and payload configuration

This supports the operation of a variety of payloads, including towed bodies for seabed mapping, geophysical site and subsea pipe/cable inspections; and defence applications such as (mine countermeasures, rapid environmental assessment, Intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance).

The Pioneer-classes modular payload configuration is designed such that several USVs and their modular payloads can be operated offshore in concurrency from a Remote Operations Centre. This enables scalable and cost-effective multi-domain operations, permitting increased geographical coverage and rapid response to task requirements.

The flexible, modular ISO-dimension payload bay offers versatility and maintainability of payloads. ACUA Ocean is working with world-leading technology partners to develop a range of ROV payload and LARS designs. 

The announcement follows Lloyd’s Register (LR) issuing the UK’s first ever certification for a remotely operated and unmanned vessel (ROUV) under the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Workboat Code Edition 3 (WBC3) Annex 2 to USV Pioneer in August 2025.

Founded by Neil and Mike Tinmouth in 2021, ACUA Ocean is a UK-based scaleup designing and developing unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for ocean monitoring and data collection. ACUA’s autonomous systems deliver enhanced full ocean capabilities for the launch and recovery of sensor and system payloads.