Develogic’s Sono.Vault SubMAReS acoustic recorders have been deployed as part of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, supporting scientific evaluation of the ecological effects of polymetallic nodule extraction at extreme depths – months before Japan’s most significant deep-sea mineral discovery became public.
The assessment is led by the University of Tokyo and Deep Reach Technology, Inc., targeting nodule fields in the seabed around Minamitorishima Island at depths between 5,200 and 5,700 metres. Develogic’s systems were in the water as part of the baseline science phase: the environmental groundwork laid before extraction activities can be sanctioned. That work proved prescient.
In June 2024, the University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation jointly announced the discovery of a nodule deposit covering approximately 10,000 square kilometres of seabed, estimated to contain around 230 million tonnes of polymetallic material – including cobalt reserves equivalent to 75 years of Japan’s national consumption. The scale of the find has since accelerated Japan’s timeline toward commercial extraction, with harvester trials anticipated in 2025 and production potentially beginning as early as 2026.
The EIA follows an ecosystem-based management approach in alignment with International Seabed Authority guidelines, with a mandate to establish rigorous environmental baselines before any extraction activities proceed. Develogic’s Sono.Vault SubMAReS systems capture continuous underwater soundscapes and detect marine mammals across the project area. Passive acoustic monitoring of this kind is a foundational requirement in modern deep-sea EIA methodology: sound propagates effectively through water at depth where light does not, making acoustic data one of the most reliable proxies for biological activity and ecosystem health. The datasets generated inform assessments of noise impact, species presence, and habitat disturbance across the full operational lifecycle of the programme.
For Develogic, the project demonstrates the versatility of the Sono.Vault platform. Originally developed for long-duration, autonomous deep-sea acoustic recording, the SubMAReS variant is purpose-built for marine mammal monitoring, with optimised frequency response, on-board detection algorithms, and deployment endurance suited to remote, high-pressure environments. At depths exceeding 5,000 metres, the engineering tolerances involved are considerable: pressure housings, connectors, and electronics must perform reliably over extended periods without maintenance access or intervention.
The Japan EEZ programme positions Develogic as a credible partner for the environmental science dimension of deep-sea resource projects — not as a retrospective supplier, but as part of the scientific infrastructure from the outset. As regulatory frameworks for deep-sea mining mature globally, that early-stage involvement becomes increasingly significant. The data Develogic’s systems collect does not simply satisfy a compliance requirement: it forms part of the scientific record on which extraction decisions, and the public accountability that surrounds them, will ultimately depend.Develogic’s Sono.Vault SubMAReS acoustic recorders have been deployed as part of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, supporting scientific evaluation of the ecological effects of polymetallic nodule extraction at extreme depths — months before Japan’s most significant deep-sea mineral discovery became public.
The assessment is led by the University of Tokyo and Deep Reach Technology, Inc., targeting nodule fields in the seabed around Minamitorishima Island at depths between 5,200 and 5,700 metres. Develogic’s systems were in the water as part of the baseline science phase: the environmental groundwork laid before extraction activities can be sanctioned. That work proved prescient. In June 2024, the University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation jointly announced the discovery of a nodule deposit covering approximately 10,000 square kilometres of seabed, estimated to contain around 230 million tonnes of polymetallic material — including cobalt reserves equivalent to 75 years of Japan’s national consumption. The scale of the find has since accelerated Japan’s timeline toward commercial extraction, with harvester trials anticipated in 2025 and production potentially beginning as early as 2026.
The EIA follows an ecosystem-based management approach in alignment with International Seabed Authority guidelines, with a mandate to establish rigorous environmental baselines before any extraction activities proceed. Develogic’s Sono.Vault SubMAReS systems capture continuous underwater soundscapes and detect marine mammals across the project area. Passive acoustic monitoring of this kind is a foundational requirement in modern deep-sea EIA methodology: sound propagates effectively through water at depth where light does not, making acoustic data one of the most reliable proxies for biological activity and ecosystem health. The datasets generated inform assessments of noise impact, species presence, and habitat disturbance across the full operational lifecycle of the programme.
For Develogic, the project demonstrates the versatility of the Sono.Vault platform. Originally developed for long-duration, autonomous deep-sea acoustic recording, the SubMAReS variant is purpose-built for marine mammal monitoring, with optimised frequency response, on-board detection algorithms, and deployment endurance suited to remote, high-pressure environments. At depths exceeding 5,000 metres, the engineering tolerances involved are considerable: pressure housings, connectors, and electronics must perform reliably over extended periods without maintenance access or intervention.
The Japan EEZ programme positions Develogic as a credible partner for the environmental science dimension of deep-sea resource projects — not as a retrospective supplier, but as part of the scientific infrastructure from the outset. As regulatory frameworks for deep-sea mining mature globally, that early-stage involvement becomes increasingly significant. The data Develogic’s systems collect does not simply satisfy a compliance requirement: it forms part of the scientific record on which extraction decisions, and the public accountability that surrounds them, will ultimately depend.
Develogic has been selected as a partner in SWAT-SHOAL, a research programme funded under the European Defence Fund (EDF) to develop swarm and teaming capabilities for manned and unmanned underwater vehicles. The programme, valued at €25 million and coordinated by Navantia, brings together 20 organisations across 11 European nations — among them Atlas Elektronik, Fraunhofer, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Naval Group, Saab Kockums, and Fincantieri NexTech.
Selected by the European Commission under the EDF 2022 call in the Underwater Warfare category, SWAT-SHOAL — an acronym for Swarm and Teaming Operation of Manned and Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Shoal — formally kicked off in Brussels in January 2024. The programme will run for 36 months, with Develogic contributing acoustic communication and underwater navigation technologies to enable coordinated operations between submarine crews and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) formations.
The central challenge SWAT-SHOAL addresses is interoperability: enabling submarines, surface vessels, divers, and AUVs to operate as a coherent, adaptive unit in contested underwater environments. For that to work, the acoustic communication infrastructure connecting the elements of the shoal must be reliable, low-latency, and survivable — conditions that demand precision engineering across the full signal chain, from subsea node to command interface.
Develogic’s contribution draws on more than two decades of hydroacoustic modem and telemetry development. The company’s HAM series acoustic modems and modular data architecture have been deployed in oceanographic, industrial, and defence programmes across multiple ocean basins. Within SWAT-SHOAL, that experience is applied to one of the most demanding communication environments in defence: multi-node underwater networks operating in dynamic, acoustically complex conditions.
David Schirm, CEO of Gabler Group AG, of which Develogic is a subsidiary, has spoken to the broader strategic significance of this class of capability: the growing demand for advanced communication and data systems in maritime and subsea operations is a structural trend, not a cyclical one. SWAT-SHOAL positions Develogic at the leading edge of that demand, working alongside Europe’s established prime defence contractors to shape how future naval forces operate below the surface.
The programme sits within Develogic’s Naval Defence and Security sector, where the company’s systems are already in operational use for submarine communication, underwater navigation, and critical infrastructure monitoring. Participation in a European Defence Fund programme of this scale reflects both the maturity of Develogic’s technical offer and the growing recognition of acoustic communication as a mission-critical capability in modern naval doctrine.
SWAT-SHOAL is expected to deliver prototype demonstrations by 2026, with results feeding into acquisition programmes across participating member states.