The Louth-based marine robotics company provides data collection services using uncrewed vehicles.
Irish marine robotics company Xocean plans to hire 100 more employees in the next six months, after making history last week by undertaking the first uncrewed vessel survey in Irish waters.
Since it commenced operations in 2019, Xocean has seen demand for its services grow and its revenues tripled last year. The team has gone from 41 to 120 staff over the last 12 months and the company plans to continue expansion this year.
New jobs will be created at Xocean’s head office in Louth as well as regional offices in the UK and Canada, and there will also be opportunities for remote workers. Roles currently on offer include uncrewed surface vessel (USV) mechanics, electrical technicians, electrical design engineers, geophysicists, data processors and surveyors.
Xocean provides data collection services to surveyors, companies and agencies. Its uncrewed marine technology has delivered more than 100 projects to date for some of the world’s largest companies. It has operated in 16 jurisdictions across North America, Europe and Asia.
The robotics company said its USVs offer improved safety compared to other methods of collecting ocean data as operators remain onshore.
It also aims to improve efficiency and reduce emissions in the offshore industry with its USVs, which it says use hybrid electrical power and emit one thousandth of the carbon typically produced by conventional offshore vessels. The USV is around the size of an average car at 4.5 metres and half its weight at 750kg.
The company received significant investment last year to further develop its ocean tech. It raised €8m in a Series A funding round last September to expand its USV fleet and secured a €1.7m EU grant last May.
Last week, the company launched a USV off the Louth coast to undertake an environmental survey of the seabed.
The company’s CEO, James Ives, said: “Our USV platform has demonstrated itself to be a safe, reliable and low-carbon solution for the collection of ocean data. We are delighted to be working in Irish waters and in collaboration with Dundalk Institute of Technology on this important environmental project.”
Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton, TD, added that Xocean’s tech has the potential to help with the preparation of sites and route planning for offshore wind energy projects in a sustainable way.
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