A £3 million centre catering for the emerging marine robotics sector was officially opened by Science and Universities Minister Jo Johnson at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) (www.noc.ac.uk) in Southampton at the end of last month.

The Marine Robotics Innovation Centre will operate as a hub for businesses and scientists developing technology that will be used to cost-effectively capture data from the world’s oceans.

Kevin Forshaw, associate director of the NOC, said: “Globally, this sector is worth some £9 billion and is growing, with the UK leading the way. Innovations in marine robotics are driving down the cost of our marine research and helping us to make sense of the rapidly changing ocean environment.

“These opportunities also extend to other sectors that operate in the ocean — for example, asset inspection and marine surveys for the oil and gas, defence and marine-renewable industries, as well as emerging sectors such as carbon capture and storage. All of these require a cost-effective way to get sensors to the right place to gather the information that they need.”

Mr Forshaw added: “We have a culture of innovation at the NOC and over two decades of experience developing marine sensors and autonomous vehicles for underwater research. The Innovation Centre will build on this and act as an international hub for the marine-technology community, linking new applications with opportunities in the market-place.”

The centre has been operational since the summer and is already home to a number of companies, including Planet Ocean, ASV and Seebyte. There have also been a number of collaborations with organisations that include Steatite, Oxis Energy, Msubs. Kongsberg, Sonardyne International, Teledyne Technologies, Defra and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. It is funded through the Natural Environment Research Council.