AUV Market to Reach $2.3 billion Over the Next Decade
Global expenditure on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) will total $2.3 billion over the next decade according to new market research released on December 16, 2009 by business analysts, Douglas-Westwood. The company’s latest report, The World AUV Market Report 2010-2019, also highlights that approximately half of AUV expenditure between 2010 and 2019 ($1.1 billion) will come from the military sector.
“While over 600 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have been produced to date, they are still regarded as a relatively new technology,” explains Paul Newman, lead Douglas-Westwood Analyst. “However, the use of AUVs has increased significantly in a number of key tasks where they have been shown to be more cost effective than previous technology. For example, they are now one of the military’s primary mine countermeasure devices and well established within the oil & gas community as deep water survey platforms.”
The report predicts that over 1,000 AUVs will be procured over the next decade. It also highlights key AUV market drivers amongst military, oil & gas and research sectors – the three principal AUV purchasers – concluding that supporting war on terror campaigns, searching for potential deep water oil & gas reserves and understanding the role of the oceans in climate change are the main reasons for the increased demand.
The World AUV Market Report 2010-2019 describes how AUVs fit into the family tree of unmanned underwater vehicles – outlining industry development and providing detailed examples of the various types of AUVs. It also segments AUV numbers by type and application, while providing insight into developers, manufacturers and operators.
Newman concludes: “In addition, a massive growth in demand has not just increased ship costs dramatically but also those of the essential underwater operations personnel. AUV technology is primed for dynamic growth as technological capability and market need are now building on each other.”
Comments
Leave a Reply
