Kongsberg, a Norwegian technology group, has unveiled a new family of commercial sonars called the Aegir SSA. These sonars are revolutionising offshore monitoring by using artificial intelligence. Designed for continuous surveillance of the underwater environment around ports, pipelines and offshore wind farms, the devices are a response to growing market challenges where the protection of critical infrastructure is becoming a priority for economic security. This new technology responds to growing market challenges where protecting critical infrastructure has become a priority for economic security.
Ensuring energy and transport security in marine areas has become one of the most significant challenges for governments and the private sector in recent years. Events in the Baltic and North Seas have clearly demonstrated that strategic pipelines, subsea cables, and offshore wind farms require constant, advanced surveillance.
In response to these growing threats, critical infrastructure protection is extending ever deeper beneath the water’s surface. The Norwegian technology group Kongsberg has just unveiled a solution set to transform this market segment. The new family of commercial Aegir SSA sonars is designed for the continuous monitoring of the underwater environment.
Artificial intelligence underwater
These new systems combine years of experience in acoustics with artificial intelligence algorithms to enable the automatic detection, classification and tracking of objects beneath the surface of the water. Traditional methods of monitoring ports or offshore installations are often inadequate in challenging conditions such as high vessel traffic density, shallow waters, and the presence of drifting objects.
This new technology is set to fill this gap. As Helge André Sundt, Vice President of Subsea Awareness at Kongsberg, emphasises: ‘The underwater environment has become a critical operational area for both commercial and government operators. With the launch of Aegir SSA, we are bringing Kongsberg’s sonar expertise to a family of products designed specifically for this purpose, which are intended to enhance safety and operational awareness in challenging marine environments.”
A key element of the new system is the virtual sonar operator, which is powered by artificial intelligence. This eliminates the need for constant human involvement in analysing acoustic signals. From an industrial perspective, it is important to note that the AI algorithms can be configured for specific missions and trained directly by the client’s operators.
This enables unique specialist knowledge to be retained and utilised effectively within the automated system. The compact design of the equipment makes offshore monitoring highly scalable. The sonars can be mounted on fixed offshore installations, autonomous surface drones, or buoys.
Tests in challenging conditions and offshore contracts
This technology has already been tested in challenging conditions and in the context of offshore contracts. For example, it was integrated with Fugro’s Seawatch buoy platform in the Oslofjord region. This collaboration resulted in the development of a system that continuously monitors the environment and provides real-time data.
Hompe Heijmerink of Fugro points out that protecting critical infrastructure requires reliable, scalable solutions: ‘The combination of Kongsberg’s new Aegir SSA sonar with Fugro’s proven Seawatch buoy platform creates a continuously operating monitoring system that helps protect critical maritime assets whilst providing operators with real-time information they can use to make faster decisions.’
The growing demand for advanced offshore monitoring is also evident in the major new portfolio contracts of the Norwegian manufacturer. These include the monitoring of the Princess Elisabeth artificial energy island in the North Sea, where underwater systems will be integrated with drone-detection radars and vessel traffic management systems.
