MARUM-Squid - a powerful, yet compact 2000 m
ROV system designed for marine research
operations from smaller vessels
N. Nowald, V. Ratmeyer and G. Wefer
MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
University of Bremen
Leobener Strasse, 28359 Bremen
Abstract—In June 2015, the MARUM - Center of Marine
Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, has put a
new 2000 m ROV system into service - the MARUM-Squid.
MARUM-Squid, manufactured by SAAB Seaeye (UK), is a
"Leopard" type light, electrical workclass ROV. The system was
designed as powerful, yet compact ROV system for deployments
from small vessels. The complete system can be shipped inside a
single 20" ISO container. The adaption of this new generation of
vehicle class for marine research offers exciting new possibilities
for scientists. Capabilities that have previously been reserved to
larger Work Class ROVs are now available on a significantly
smaller footprint both on the vehicle itself as well as on the vessel
deck. This new concept overcomes current limitations in terms of
operational depth, proportional manipulation, complex scientific
payload integration, dynamic navigation or bulk thruster power
against currents, to name but a few. For marine science, this
means a clear enhancement of research tool efficiency by
simultaneous installation of state-of-the art research equipment
especially aboard smaller vessels, including a very capable ROV.
In January 2016, the ROV was successfully deployed for the first
time during a research expedition with RV Meteor in high
current areas along the SW-African coast. In addition, the
mobilization concept of MARUM-Squid was validated during its
second cruise with the much smaller RV Poseidon in April 2016,
where the ROV as well as a set of heavy geological sampling tools
could be installed and deployed from the vessel. During both
expeditions, operations could be carried out previously only
possible by using larger ROV systems such as the full workclass
MARUM-QUEST. The tasks included precise navigation for
geological and biological sampling under extreme current
conditions up to 2 knots, HDTV documentation, and heavy
equipment recovery operations from 1800 m water depth. The
paper describes the exciting new potential of the MARUM
SQUID and the implications for this new class of commercially
available platforms for the future of marine research.
Keywords—ROV; MARUM-Squid;
I. INTRODUCTION
Size and the availability of research vessels determines the
scientific and technical program of a cruise. Marine
researchers that rely on a full workclass ROV system, such as
Jason (WHOI), Victor 6000 (Ifremer), ISIS (NOC), Kiel 6000
(GEOMAR) or MARUM-Quest (MARUM) to carry out their
scientific work, need an appropriate, large research vessel.
978-1-5090-1537-5/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
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Although the majority of scientific workclass ROVs are free
flying systems, that do not require a TMS or LARS, these
systems are still rather large in terms of weight (≥ 40 t) and
size. Usually, shipping a workclass ROV system requires
several ISO containers for the ROV, the winch but also for
control and maintenance which in turn require a defined
amount of deckspace on the platform. Furthermore, the ship
must provide the necessary electrical power or lifting gear for
deployment/recovery and possibly for the installation of a
deployment frame - usually in the rear A-Frame of a ship.
Although many scientific programs are centered around the
ROV, planning a side program by using additional scientific
gear (e.g. Gravitycorer, Multicorer) is inevitable. This is
necessary to be able to compensate for repairs and
maintenance downtime of the ROV or the turn over time
required to prepare the scientific tools installed on the ROV
for the next dive. However, the tools for the side program also
need an accessible storage place on deck besides the ROV
equipment. Due to their complexity and size, workclass ROVs
require a large team of experts which are usually in the range
between eight to ten crewmen. This means, that even on large
ships that provide a rather large number of berths, the number
of scientists that can participate on the expedition is
significantly decreased which has direct implications on the
research program. Furthermore, it is in the nature of large
research platforms that they underlie a long planning phase
which limits their availability and flexible use which also
accounts to workclass ROVs due to their complexity and size.
A short-termed use of a large vessel with a workclass ROV
is nearly impossible. On the other hand, small vessels are often
available at short notice but can´t support a workclass system.
Hence, ROV systems that can operate from small vessels are of
the observation class category which are much smaller in size,
very compact and shippable with little logistical efforts. In
addition, a much smaller number of crewmen (3-4) is required
to operate the vehicle. The drawback of such systems is, that
the scientific work that can be conducted is rather limited.
Compared to a workclass ROV, observation class systems have
only simple autofunctions, limited telemetry capabilities,
shallower operation depth, basic manipulation tools, lower
thruster power to name but a few. Hence, it is self-evident that
marine scientists would benefit from a system that would
 combine the capabilities of a workclass ROV with the
compactness of observation class systems for operations from
small vessels..
II. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
After more than 10 years in service, MARUM was looking
for a replacement for the 1000 m depth rated MARUM-
Cherokee. The Sub-Atlantic Cherokee was a mid-sized
observation class system that was used for scientific
observation and light sampling. It was designed as a free
flying, non-containerized, portable system that could be
shipped within one 20" ISO container - including winch,
depressor weight, control stand, several boxes with spare parts
and consumables and the USBL positioning system GAPS.
Instead of using an extra control van, the entire topside
equipment, such as the transformer, video monitors and control
racks, was installed inside the ship´s laboratory during
mobilization. Together with a crew of two pilots/technicians,
the ROV was extremely compact and flexible in use. It could
even operate from very small ships of opportunity whilst still
leaving enough deckspace for the use of other geological or
oceanographic sampling gear. These were the reasons why the
system was frequently used by scientists, despite the rather low
possibilities (e.g. low quality SD video recordings or limited
manipulation options). Hence, the aim was to design a
successor system that keeps the concept and advantages of the
Cherokee (e.g. topside equipment to be installed in the ship´s
lab, shippable in one 20" container) but being significantly
more powerful and capable at the same time. The requirements
that were determined for the new system were a 2000 m depth
rating to double the working depth compared to the Cherokee.
This is a significant improvement as the Cherokee´s rather
shallow operation depth turned out to be the biggest handicap
for planned scientific work in the near future as many
interesting places, e.g. on Black Smoker sites, are located far
beyond 1000 m. Further, a fully proportional 7 function
manipulator, a HD camera and a telemetry with a 1 Gigabit
port should be onboard - equipment that is standard on most
modern workclass ROVs and essential to meet the demands of
today´s deep-sea research. Of special importance was to find a
ROV that would be able to operate in areas with high current
speeds up to 2 knots. One research area at MARUM are cold
water coral ecosystem that live on seamounds which are places
of increased current velocities. In addition, a system that can
prevail in such areas would make new research areas accessible
which are denied to ROVs with insufficient thruster power.
Scientists are more and more interested in photomosaics to
study small scale structures on the seafloor, such as asphalt
flows or bacterial mats. To create a photomosaic, the ROV
must be able to fly several parallel lines with a constant
velocity, at a given height above the seafloor and at the same
time, precisely maintaining heading. In order to perform such
tasks, a top notch navigational sensor package in combination
with a powerful control system is required. However, the
technical equipment necessary to meet the specified
requirements would inevitably mean an increase in the size and
weight of the entire system and would most likely not fit onto a
common observation class vehicle. Recently, ROV
manufacturers have launched a new generation of powerful
light Work Class ROVs that offer a good compromise between
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size/weight and capabilities with the potential to build a slim
system around them.
III. THE MARUM-SQUID ROV SYSTEM
After evaluating suitable ROVs on the market, MARUM
decided to purchase a 2000 m version of the SAAB-Seaeye
Leopard type compact workclass ROV, with a total power of
45 kW at 3000 VAC / 800 Hz. Dimensions are 2.1 x 1.2 x 1.6
m (LxBxH) and weight is 1.3 t including the hydraulically
operated sample recovery skid mounted underneath the ROV.
MARUM-Squid is equipped with the necessary tools that are
mandatory for a capable scientific ROV, such as an Insite
Pacific MiniZEUS MKII HD-camera, a Schilling Robotics
Orion 7P manipulator or several interfaces for the integration
of additional, scientific sensors. Apart from this, the ROV has
two unique features, being the thruster power and the main
navigational device. The vehicle is equipped with 3 vertical
and 8 horizontal 500 VDC, brushless thruster with 100 kgF
each. Together, this results in a forward speed of 3.5 knots,
which makes the ROV well suitable for operations in high
current areas. Furthermore, 8 thrusters provide 100%
redundancy as the vehicle can also run on 4 horizontal
thrusters if necessary. Positioning and navigation is centered
around a CDL MiniPOSNAV3 navigation unit. The MiniPOS
is a fully self-contained Attitude Heading and Reference
System (AHRS). It comprises a gyro compass based around a
Monolithic Ring Laser Gyrocompass (MRLG). Together with
the MRLG, three axis accelerometers make the MiniPOS a
full inertial system. The MiniPOS uses additional aiding
options from the USBL positioning system, the Doppler
Velocity Log (DVL) and the vehicle's depth sensor to provide
geographical position updates without the inherent noise and
availability issues of common USBL systems. Applying
smoothing algorithms to the USBL tracks becomes obsolete
with the MiniPOS. In addition, the MiniPOS is the base for
the advanced autofunctions to displace the vehicle along given
track lengths and directions and also to stationkeep the vehicle
above the seafloor. Stationkeeping the vehicle in the
midwater-column without acoustic link to the seafloor via
DVL is also possible however, being less accurate. The
drawback of the MiniPOS is that it has to be calibrated before
the advanced autofunctions become available. The calibration
procedure takes 20 minutes and can be carried out on deck
with the ship not moving or by parking the ROV on the
seafloor. The spooling winch, manufactured by MacGregor-
Hatlapa (Uetersen/Germany), has a line-pull of 25 kN and
weighs 3.5 t without the supply cable. It could be realized on a
footprint of 2.1 x 1.9 m at a height of 1.9 m. The winch carries
2400 m of a 19 mm, aramid enforced soft tether, with 3 x 4²
conductors for power and 3x2 SM fibers and was designed by
Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke (Nordenham/ Germany). A soft
tether was chosen to reduce the total weight of the winch. A
meter of the tether is 0.47 kg in air, which is half of the weight
of a steel cable with identical internal design. In total, the
winch is 4.7 t. The low weight of the soft tether in water (180
kg/km) requires the usage of a depressor weight during
operation, because otherwise uncontrolled movements of the
 supply cable in the water column are inevitable. The depressor
weighs 350 kg and is attached to the tether with a cable grip
50 m behind the ROV.
The topside equipment can be installed in the ship´s lab to
avoid an additional control van. It consists of the 3kV
transformer and corresponding filter box both mounted on
wheels, as well as 4 portable flight cases with monitors,
control PC´s and other necessary devices installed (Fig. 1 &
2).
Fig. 1 Installation of the MARUM-Squid system onboard RV Poseidon. The
winch is placed on the loading hatch and the sheave is installed in the
extension beam. 3kV Transformer and control cases are placed inside the
ship´s laboratories.
The entire system including ROV, winch, transformer,
control stands, depressor weight, USBL positioning system
GAPS and several boxes with spares and consumables weighs
8.2 t and fits into a single 20" ISO container. MARUM-Squid
is operated by a crew of 3-4 pilots.
Fig. 2 Left: Deployment of ROV Squid from RV Poseidon with its rather
limited deckspace. Right: The portable control cases placed inside the Groß-
Nass Labor of RV Meteor.
IV. RESULTS FROM TWO CAMPAINGS
In 2016 MARUM-Squid was deployed on two cruises.
During RV Meteor cruise M-122 in January, the ROV was
deployed off SW-Africa to study coldwater coral ecosystems
in water depths between 200 - 600 m. The aim of the second
cruise with the much smaller RV Poseidon in April, was to
recover two lost observatories from 1800 m depth in the
Mediterranean Sea via a 2-wire operation.
During RV Meteor cruise M-122 MARUM-Squid was
deployed on 16 occasions - primarily to locate, document and
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to sample cold water corals. However, the cruise was well
suited to create a test photomosaic under difficult conditions
which would stress the vehicle´s thruster power in
combination with the autofunctions. Further, the quality and
reliability of the MiniPOS navigation could be evaluated (Fig.
3).
Fig. 3 Survey track of Dive 7 during Meteor Cruise M-122 showing the
MiniPOS (blue line) and the USBL position updates (red dots). The MiniPOS
positions are updated at a much higher frequency and do not scatter as
compared to the USBL data.
Cold water corals form seamounds, that are places of high
current speeds due to the special hydrodynamic conditions
around them. Furthermore, cold water corals form not evenly
distributed, elevated structures of several decimeters height
that tend to dissipate acoustic waves from altimeters or DVLs.
If these crucial navigation units drop out on a regular basis,
creating a mosaic would be extremely difficult. The target
chosen was a seamound called "Beautiful Garden" off Angola
in 360 m water depth, that was discovered during a previous
dive during the cruise. In the study area, the ship reported
current velocities of 2 knots at the surface several times.
Similar current speeds were assumed on top and flanks of the
mounds. To mosaic the site, four parallel lines of 10 m length
each were selected at a line spacing of 1 m covering roughly
40 m². These four lines were perpendicular intersected by 10
more lines for best optical coverage. Heading was 317°, height
of the camera above the seafloor 1.4 m and cruise speed 0.1 m
s-1. However, because no special mosaicking camera that
points straight downwards was available for the cruise, the
ROVs still image camera with a 14 Megapixel resolution
mounted on the Pan and Tilt was used and triggered manually.
The vehicle was able to precisely follow the tracks despite the
strong currents. The Auto-altitude function dropped out on
three occasions as expected, but the vehicle could be put back
on course rather quick to finish the lines. The result, illustrated
in Fig. 4, is not perfect due to the improvised camera and
lighting setup, but shows the potential of the system. The
 terrain is very uneven related to the coral stocks and a
depression is well visible in the lower part of the image.
Living corals can be recognized by their white tips.
Fig. 4 Left: Photomosaic of the "Beautiful Garden". For display purposes, the
image has been rotated. The heading of the ROV, i.e. mosaicking direction is
indicated by the arrow. Right: MiniPOS position track of the mosaic
The advantage of a non-containerized, portable system was
demonstrated during the Squid´s following cruise with RV
Poseidon - a 60 m, non-DP vessel with limited deckspace. To
recover objects from the seafloor via 2-wire observation, a
capable ROV with excellent autofunctions, manipulation
possibilities and also decent amount of thruster power is
crucial, especially when operating from a ship without DP.
The two lost observatories were a 6 m long temperature and 5
m long porewater pressure lance, both to be recovered during
one dedicated dive for each device. By just having to install
the winch on the ships working deck on the port side and by
deploying the ROV with the main crane over the side, the
entire aft area including the vessels A-Frame remains free.
Thus, the aft area could be used to for the recovery and
storage of the observatories. The small footprint of the ROV
system further allowed to use a 6 m Gravitycorer and a
Multicorer from the port side working deck to take sediment
samples for the scientists (Fig. 5). The same working program
with a containerized ROV system would have been more
difficult to realize, if not impossible due to the limits of
available deckspace.
Gravitycorer seen in the foreground. Right: The entire rear area remains free
which allowed the recovery of the observatories, here the temperature lance,
during the same cruise.
V. CONCLUSIONS
MARUM-Squid brings the capabilities of a workclass ROV
onto small ships. The system is operated by a small crew and
can operate from small vessels with small deckspace together
with other scientific gear. As small vessels do not underlie
long planning phases compared to large ships, a capable
scientific ROV can be provided on short notice. Despite its
compactness, the ROV proved to meet the demands of modern
deep-sea research for operations down to 2000 m, such as HD
video documentation, complex manipulation or the precise
mosaicking of spots of interests in areas with increased current
velocities. The above-average thruster power also eases
deployment and recovery of the free flying ROV as it provides
enough buffer in critical situations. However, the depressor
design needs to be reconsidered and a new version will be
constructed. With the current design, the cable grip with the
attached weight tends to slips downwards several centimeters
during operation. This resulted in compressions and sharp
bendings of the copper conductors and fibers which made a re-
termination necessary. The next cruise of MARUM-Squid will
take place in January/February 2017 off South Georgia with
RV Meteor. Aim of the cruise will be the documentation and
quantification of methane gas streams emitting from the
seafloor with specialized in-situ gas samplers.

Fig. 5 The two images illustrate the advantages of a non-containerized system.

Left: when the ROV is placed in its parking position in front of the winch, the
working deck can be used to deploy other scientific gear, such as a

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