CSBC drone ship receives American Bureau of Shipping approval

Kaohsiung, Sept. 6 (CNA) Taiwan's Kaohsiung-based shipbuilder CSBC Corp. on Friday announced that its first domestically produced unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has received approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

CSBC said the ABS issued an Approval in Principle (AIP) to its military-grade USV "Endeavor Manta," which was first unveiled on March 25. The company said it held months of talks with ABS before securing the approval.

The AIP is a preliminary certification covering a vessel's design and construction. ABS reviewed the Endeavor Manta's engineering concepts, technical details, production calculations and risk assessments before granting approval, CSBC said.

The shipbuilder said the AIP confirms the technical feasibility of the USV's design and supports its continued development, noting that the drone ship's purpose is to reduce risks to human operators.

The Endeavor Manta is a fiber-reinforced plastic trimaran measuring 8.6 meters by 3.7 meters. It has a maximum speed of 35 knots and a payload capacity of more than 1 metric ton. The trimaran design improves sailing performance, seakeeping and mobility, CSBC said.

The drone ship is equipped with a multi-mode communications system including 4G, radio frequency, and satellite links to support remote-control operations. With different modular payloads, it can carry out high-risk maritime tasks such as search and rescue, hardware inspection, data collection, logistics and environmental surveys.

CSBC added that the USV also has military applications, including AI targeting, anti-hijacking systems, and autonomous group navigation with collision avoidance. It can be fitted with bow-mounted explosives and light torpedoes, CSBC Chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said when the vessel was showcased in March.