Two Marine Drone Demonstration Projects Selected
Overview
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism solicited proposals for the FY2026 Regional Model Creation Demonstration Project for the Use of Marine Drones to further advance their implementation in society, and selected two projects. The selected projects are maintenance of an undersea water pipeline and inspection of organisms attached to ship hulls at Aomori Port using an underwater drone. Demonstration results are scheduled for publication at the end of FY2026.
Key points
- Two demonstration projects were selected for FY2026.
- Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants, Inc. will conduct the demonstration on maintenance of an undersea water pipeline (Kasaoka Model).
- MizLinx, Inc. will conduct the regional model demonstration of inspecting organisms attached to ship hulls at Aomori Port using an underwater drone.
- Demonstration results are scheduled for publication at the end of FY2026.
Overview
The seas around Japan’s coastal and remote island regions face many challenges, including a shortage of workers due to population aging and depopulation, aging infrastructure, and degradation of the marine environment.
Marine drones, including AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), ASVs (small unmanned boats), and ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles), are foundational technologies that make the ocean visible through the collection and analysis of marine data and automate underwater work. Since FY2021, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has conducted demonstration experiments across a range of use cases and promoted their implementation in society.
Impact
Marine drones are expected to help address worker shortages and contribute to higher productivity in marine-related activities and the creation of new markets.
Details
This year, proposals were widely solicited for demonstration experiments that would continuously assess the effects of deployment, increase predictability toward industrialization, and further advance implementation in society. Projects were selected following review by experts, and results are scheduled for publication at the end of FY2026.
The selected demonstration projects are Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants, Inc.’s demonstration on maintenance of an undersea water pipeline (Kasaoka Model), and MizLinx, Inc.’s regional model demonstration of inspecting organisms attached to ship hulls at Aomori Port using an underwater drone.