Schulte Maritime Services (SMS), part of the Schulte Group, is driving innovation with a new Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) design, crafted to meet increasingly stringent underwater IRM regulations.

With a strategic move towards strengthening the Group’s portfolio of underwater Inspection, Repair and Maintenance (IRM) services, SMS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mitsui for the building and development of an advanced ROV, inclusive of a debris collection system.

This agreement is a stepping-stone towards providing much-needed alternative solutions to ship owners regarding IRM. The challenges being addressed are increasing manpower restrictions at ports, changing environmental regulations and a shortage of resources, due to an insufficient number of certified commercial divers.

The new ROV design will also tackle the flaws of existing underwater IRM ROVs available on the market, which include a significantly larger size and slow speed that lead to high capital costs.

The signatories of the MOU included Tobias Pinker, Chief Financial Officer Bernhard Schulte, Naoya Umegaki, Executive Officer – Marine Products Division, Yanmar, and Hideki Asano, Operating Officer – Integrated Transportation Systems Unit, Mitsui.

The operation of the ROV will be performed by Dive Marine Non-Destructive Testing with the long-term goal of developing a global underwater IRM brand.

Each party of the MOU has a unique set of skills from which a fruitful collaboration may grow.