Oceanographic Survey Vessels (OSVs) are increasingly valued by naval forces to support the high demand for a well researched undersea environmental picture that enables commanders to fully understand and exploit the undersea mission environment.
These types of relatively expensive and sophisticated ships used to be the almost exclusive domain of tier-1 naval powers but the past five years has seen so-called tier-2 navies getting more interested in this capability. This change is principally driven by so many countries eager to own and operate submarines because when you acquire submarines suddenly there is a premium on knowing the undersea environment.
With 373 ships in service with 45 countries plus NATO and with 29 vessels on order in nine countries, there are known current requirements for at least eight new OSVs of different levels of sophistication that could be worth $1.6 billion with a forecast showing requirements in at least 20 countries over the next five years worth $4-5 billion.
Contact Australian Commercial Marine Group for a copy of this research paper to understand more about the OSV market and find out about current and future requirements in this space.
Source: Defence IQ
