Vanguard Magazine

Successful sea trials completed off the coast of British Columbia for the Cellula Imotus-S Two more Bay Class high-endurace search and rescue lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard 10 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 www.vanguardcanada.com S SIT REP The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) respond to over 6,000 calls for assis- tance each year, keeping Canadian waterways safe for all and protecting the marine environment at the same time. On any given day the CCG re- sponds to 19 search and rescue incidents, assists 68 people, and saves 18 lives. For these reasons, it is an absolute priority for the Canadian Gov- ernment to ensure CCG personnel have the vessels they need to perform their critical services. January 9, 2023 marked the delivery of the 13th and 14th search and rescue lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard: the CCGS Gabarus Bay and the CCGS Chedabucto Bay. The vessels were built by Hike Metal Products Ltd from Wheatley, Ontario and Chantier Naval Forillon from Gaspé, Quebec, respectively. The vessels are not just for search and rescue though. They are fully equipped for the dual role of assisting in marine environmental response operations to reduce the impacts of marine pollution incidents. "With the completion of the CCGS Gabarus Bay and CCGS Chedabucto Bay, the National Shipbuilding Strategy delivered top of the line Canadian- built vessels to the Canadian Coast Guard. These vessels demonstrate the Government of Canada's priority to renew the Canadian Coast Guard fleet, protect seafarers in our waters, and advance good-paying jobs construct- ing ships right here in Canada," remarked the Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard. The Canadian Coast Guard is expecting delivery of a total of 20 search and rescue lifeboats under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The goal of the strategy is to equip the Canadian Coast Guard with safe, modern, and Canadian-made equipment. "These high endurance search and rescue vessels help us keep our November 2022 - Cellula's Imotus-S drone being deployed off an RCN Orca class vessel in Saanich Inlet (CNW Group/Cellula Robotics Ltd.) Cellula Robotics Ltd. recently announced the successful completion of sea trials for the Imotus-S AUV in British Columbia. The key feature of the Imotus-S is that it enables vessels to easily monitor their magnetic and acoustic signature in a timely manner without having to leave station. Starting on November 14, the sea trials were executed in the Saanich Inlet over the course of two weeks. Various project milestones were met during testing including acoustic ranging, magnetic ranging, and under- standing safe distance to the vessel while maintaining control authority. The Imotus-S demonstration also provided training of test department staff with handling and operating the drone. This was run with the sup- port of a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Orca class vessel, PCT Cougar. This is part of the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) Test Stream program through which Cellula is performing ongoing work with the Department of National Defence (DND). Jacqueline Nichols, Business Development, said, "seeing Imotus-S be- ing deployed from and working in tandem with the Orca vessel has been a fantastic step in Cellula's signature measurement program. In conjunc- tion with the invaluable feedback received to date, the opportunity of working closely with DND throughout the program enabled us to under- stand the challenges for signature measurement and management." "Since the Imotus-S project announcement, we've been looking forward to open water testing and deploying Imotus-S off an Orca class vessel" said Warren Priyadamkol, Project Engineer at DND. "With the successful completion of the sea trials, we will now focus on analysing the data sets obtained from the AUV." This in-depth analysis of the recorded data, which also includes com- parisons to known acoustic and magnetic signatures of the Orca vessel, is ongoing from the test department. Discussions and feedback resulting from the Saanich Inlet trials will significantly move the Imotus-S program closer to the establishment of an autonomous underwater ranging capa- bility.

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