Reach Subsea ASA announced that Sletta, Smedasundet and Karmsundet in the Haugalandet district of western Norway has been granted official status as a national test site for remote-controlled technologies and unmanned vessels by the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Maritime Authority. The establishment of a test site for world-leading technology for the maritime industries will strengthen the collaboration between the private sector, the authorities, academia and research communities, and provide a supportive, innovative subsea environment for the Reach Remote project. Reach Subea is one of 19 members of the NCE Maritime CleanTech cluster organization, which has led the work to establish the test site. The group is a public-private partnership initiative that will collaborate on the development of new clean, energy-efficient maritime technologies, thereby positioning Norway to take a leading role in autonomous maritime transport and operations solutions. Reach Subea is one of 19 members of the NCE Maritime CleanTech cluster organization, which has led the work to establish the test site. The group is a public-private partnership initiative that will collaborate on the development of new clean, energy-efficient maritime technologies, thereby positioning Norway to take a leading role in autonomous maritime transport and operations solutions. Reach Remote, which is carried out in cooperation with Kongsberg Maritime AS and Massterly AS and supported by a grant from Innovation Norway, aims to develop future-proof, sustainable solutions for subsea services. The first stage of the project is to introduce Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) dedicated to survey, inspection, and light repair projects. The USVs will serve as mobile power banks, data centres and communication modules for underwater ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), with both the USVs and ROVs operated from an onshore control centre. Reach Subsea’s goal was to be in the market with the first two USVs in 2022, with the ambition of providing a full portfolio of subsea services from a low-emission, cost-effective remote and autonomous fleet by 2025. Due to global supply chain disruptions, the commissioning of the first USVs has been postponed and the first vehicles are expected to be launched in 2023. The low-emission, cost-effective subsea services which will be offered by Reach Remote are of interest to offshore wind farm operators and oil and gas asset owners. Reach Remote will be an enabler, building on framework agreements already in place to position Reach as a preferred supplier of survey, inspection, and light repair services to the fast-growing offshore wind industry. It will also be key to providing services to other markets, such as aquaculture, subsea mining, and environmental surveillance. Currently, Reach provides its subsea services from six vessels. A typical Reach project will involve some 30-50 personnel onboard a subsea vessel operating under strict HSEQ regimes. With Reach Remote, the same project can be executed with a much smaller, more fuel-efficient vessel, a more than 90% reduction in CO2 and NOx emissions and one third of the personnel, who will be located onshore without exposure to offshore operational risks.