Malaysia-based digital infrastructure provider OMS Group has acquired a second Exail DriX O-16 uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to expand its autonomous seabed survey capability for submarine cable installation projects.
In a statement, OMS Group and Exail said the first DriX O-16 was purchased last year and is scheduled to launch in mid-2026. The company said it will be named USV Elite. The two vessels are intended to support seabed surveys, route verification and monitoring for telecommunications cable infrastructure projects internationally.
Exail said the DriX O-16 is designed for long-duration survey missions, with an operational endurance of up to 30 days and a range of about 3,500 nautical miles. The company said the platform can carry survey sensors including the Kongsberg EM124 multibeam echo sounder for high-resolution seabed mapping.
OMS Group CEO Ronnie Lim said the vessel would help the company deliver seabed data with “greater safety, lower emissions, and improved operational resilience” for long-duration and remote offshore missions.
Exail’s VP Maritime Autonomy Solutions, Olivier Cervantes, said USVs could reduce survey emissions by up to 99%, while also reducing human exposure at sea.
OMS Group said the new USV will be integrated into an expanding survey ecosystem that also includes planned Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and a Remote Operation Centre (ROC) in Singapore to enable remote supervision, real-time data validation and coordinated multi-vehicle operations.
The deal comes as demand increases for subsea cables to support regional and global connectivity, including growing data traffic linked to cloud services and AI workloads. For Australia, the expansion of survey and installation capacity in Southeast Asia may have implications for the pace and resilience of new and existing routes linking Australia with regional hubs.
