Revolutionizing Subsea Data Collection and Delivery: Tiburon Subsea and OFG Collaboration

U.S.-based subsea data collection and delivery provider Tiburon Subsea and Canadian Ocean Floor Geophysics (OFG) recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to address challenges in wave and wind energy surveys, maintenance, and subsea security, among other critical areas.

In a significant move in 2024, Tiburon Subsea unveiled its groundbreaking vectored thrust control system, JETTE, specifically designed for defense markets and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) manufacturers. Looking ahead to 2025, the company announced plans to introduce an advanced commercial AUV equipped with JETTE technology to enhance hydrodynamic efficiency, operational redundancy, and payload capacity.

As part of their collaborative effort, Tiburon Subsea will integrate OFG’s cutting-edge technologies including the self-compensating magnetometer, Hypermag, iCP, and HyperEMF systems. These innovations will facilitate non-contact cathodic protection inspection, AC/DC cable EMF and depth of burial surveys, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection.

The Tiburon fleet is poised to serve a myriad of purposes ranging from site exploration, oceanographic research, biodiversity management, defense, hydrographic survey, methane leak detection, to wind and wave renewable energy survey and maintenance, subsea security, and coastal health monitoring.

“Our respective companies share a goal and vision of creating new subsea survey and inspection capabilities for our clients. We believe that advancing dynamic underwater technologies will propel us into a new era in marine robotics,” expressed Tim Taylor, Founder and CEO of Tiburon Subsea.

“Consider how satellite networks are the backbone hardware of the earth’s science data network; autonomous vehicles are quickly becoming the same backbone needed to open data acquisition on a planet which is 70% water. Renewable energy, climate change remediation, marine fishery protection, weather monitoring, and coastal engineering will all benefit from access to this technology.”

The design of the Tiburon fleet enables full-dimensional operation, allowing the AUVs to hover, scan, stabilize, and navigate through challenging underwater environments.

OFG CEO Matthew Kowalczyk further emphasized, “I have worked with Tim Taylor on many subsea projects throughout the years and his latest tech innovation will allow us to deploy our systems on a platform with unique capabilities to provide comprehensive data to our clients and the underwater marine community. OFG and Tiburon Subsea share a belief that the future of the ocean economy is digital, autonomous, and resident. That future requires quality data.”

In a strategic move in October 2024, Tiburon Subsea joined forces with fellow U.S. marine energy company C-Power’s partner engagement and co-development (PEC) program to handle subsea data collection for the upcoming SeaRAY ocean energy system demonstration.