A major milestone for the NEXTMARINE Project was achieved in July 2026, as PLOATECH’s team successfully conducted the first shallow-water field trials of its integrated underwater imaging and navigation system in Anavyssos, Greece.
Following extensive laboratory preparation and bench-testing, the mission focused on validating both the custom hardware platform and the real-time software pipeline under natural underwater conditions.
The trials included multiple survey strategies, from structured circular patterns to long continuous corridors, generating synchronized visual and navigation datasets in a real-world marine environment.
With this important validation complete, the team is now preparing for the next phase: deeper-water missions using active illumination and more challenging seabed conditions.
Congratulations to the PLOATECH team for this successful deployment and for advancing innovative tools to support marine ecosystem monitoring and seabed mapping.
Check Nextmarine’s website for more information and news: nextmarine-project.eu
