Australia’s expanding maritime interests demand accurate and sustained ocean observations to support safety, security, and environmental management. This presentation explores how autonomous marine technologies – focusing on long endurance underwater gliders – are strengthening sovereign capability in ocean data collection. Sam Ward, Operations Manager at Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems (BOMTS), shares operational insights from over a decade of autonomous system deployments and highlights collaborative projects with research and government partners. These initiatives demonstrate how industry-led innovation is advancing Australia’s operational oceanography value chain – linking research, technology, and practical application to deliver reliable, data-driven decision-making across marine sectors.  The presentation concludes by emphasising the need for a sovereign autonomous underwater vehicle capability.

Biography:

Sam Ward is a Mechanical Engineer and is currently the Operations Manager for Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems (BOMTS) Australia. He has over 13 years of experience in autonomous marine platform operations. He began his career at the UK National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, where he helped establish the Marine Autonomous Robotics Systems (MARS) Glider Team and managed one of the world’s largest research UUV & USV fleets. Since joining the Blue Ocean Group in 2016, Sam has led the successful delivery of multimillion-dollar autonomous glider survey projects for Energy and Defence clients in Australian and international waters.