The coastguard in the UK is trying to find the owner of $400,000 worth of autonomous ship that has been found, wedged into a crack in the rocks in the Hebrides islands off the northwest coast of Scotland.
The Isle of Tiree Coastguard Rescue Team was called to a report of an object in the water on Monday.
Pictures were taken of the item and posted on the team’s Facebook page in a bid to find out about the origins of the vessel and to find its owner.
Members of the public were quick to help out the team and identify the object as an autonomous wave rider that could well have travelled miles from home but as yet the owner of the robotic boat has yet to be found.
These vessels are used to gather ocean data using energy from the waves and solar panels.
This doesn’t give me much confidence in the UK’s maritime security. If a mysterious vessel can just ‘wash up’ on shore without being detected, so too can an autonomous vessel carrying drugs, illegal migrants, terrorists, weapons or any number of other undesirable cargoes.
Post-Brexit, the UK will be extremely vulnerable to illegal incursions into its waters, whether by smugglers, terrorists or European ‘fishing pirates’. The country needs to get serious about maritime security.
Looks very much like one of the units from
Liquid Robotics (Boeing company) ….
First Alien sailing object.? USO. Cute.
https://www.liquid-robotics.com/wave-glider/how-it-works/
Possibly a dry run to see how far they can get!! (Or a wet run LOL!!)