Marine

China christened a remarkable new 290-foot ship last week – the world's first semi-autonomous drone carrier. It'll carry, launch, recover and co-ordinate the actions of more than 50 other autonomous aerial, surface and underwater vehicles.

California's Marine Advanced Robotics has made considerable progress on its remarkable Wave-Adaptive Modular Vessel since we first saw these wild suspension-legged spider-boats 16 years ago on a list of urban legends.

Several groups in Japan have been demonstrating fully autonomous ships in the last few months, and the latest, a 95-m container ship, has just completed a 790-km autonomous voyage starting and ending in the heavily congested waters of Tokyo Bay.

If you've ever gone out on a booze cruise and thought "gee, I wish there was less fresh air," this one's for you! Dutch submarine company U-Boat Worx has announced an enormous new underwater venue for up to 120 guests plus a full crew and staff.

Norway-based marine group Ulstein has introduced Thor, its concept design for a 149-m (489-ft) replenishment, research and rescue (3R) ship powered by a thorium Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) that can be used to recharge battery-driven cruise ships at sea.

Italian senior yacht designer Luca Bassani is the force behind the world’s first full-wide-body superyacht. Dubbed wallywhy200, it's a modern vessel that boasts innovation, space, speed and performance.

Italian startup iSpace2o has announced it's starting production on the first hull for its Deepseaker DS1 submersible hydrofoil. This machine will rise out of the water to hydrofoil at up to 23 knots, or dive as deep as 50 m for underwater shenanigans.

Back in 2016, U-Boat Worx revealed a double-bubble tourist submersible named the Cruise Sub that could take up to nine people deep below the ocean waves. Now the company has unveiled an all-acrylic sibling with a single egg-shaped observation window.

Mindful of the significant carbon emissions generated by the marine industry in general, America's Cup reigning champion Emirates Team New Zealand has been developing a hydrogen-powered chase boat, and has now taken it out for its first spin.

While AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) are invaluable for gathering oceanographic data, they also tend to be fairly large and very expensive. The Hydrus offers a much smaller, less costly alternative, which still packs a lot of punch.

In a typical sailboat race, the course is marked with a series of buoys that have to be anchored to the seabed, and which may get pushed around by winds or currents. MarkSetBot addresses those problems, with internet-connected robotic buoys.

Back in mid-2020, Florida-based e-watersports startup YuJet launched an electric surfboard designed to bring "the power of a jetski to a surfboard." Now the company is back with the new more durable, more powerful Surfer XT electric jetboard.