National Oceanography Centre
UK national ocean research centre in Southampton and Liverpool whose MARS team builds and runs Autosub Long Range, Autosub 5, gliders and ROV Isis.
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is the United Kingdom's national institution for ocean science and marine technology, and the UK lead centre for UKRI-NERC marine research. It has two main sites: the Waterfront Campus on European Way in the Port of Southampton, and the University of Liverpool campus. NOC employs more than 700 staff and reports an annual turnover of about GBP 80 million. It operates the UK's large research ships RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook, and it is one of few research organisations worldwide with the equipment and expertise to operate down to 6,000 m.
NOC's roots go back to the Liverpool Observatory (1843), the Liverpool Tidal Institute and the National Institute of Oceanography (1949). These later formed the NERC Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. In 1995 the institute moved to the new Southampton Oceanography Centre, which took the name National Oceanography Centre in 2005. The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool merged into NOC later. In 2019 NOC left direct NERC management and became an independent, self-governing organisation, registered as a company (no. 11444362) and a charity in England and Wales (1185265) and Scotland (SC049896). Professor John Siddorn has been chief executive since April 2024, and NOC's 2025-2035 strategy sets its research direction.
NOC's Marine Autonomous and Robotics Systems (MARS) team designs, builds and operates the national fleet of underwater robots, which NOC describes as one of the largest and most advanced in the world. NOC has been developing AUVs since 1987, when Institute of Oceanographic Sciences engineers outlined the DOGGIE and DOLPHIN vehicle concepts. Autosub 1 first went into the water in Empress Dock, Southampton, in 1996 and then completed a 3.6 km mission in Portland Harbour. Later Autosubs carried out the Autosub Science Missions and Autosub Under Ice programmes. Autosub 2 was the first AUV to carry a flow cytometer.
The current fleet has two complementary 6,000 m vehicles. Autosub Long Range has a range of about 2,000 km and runs missions lasting weeks, sending data home over Iridium satellite without a ship nearby, which cuts ship time and carbon emissions. Autosub 5 is a high-power, ship-launched AUV for detailed seabed imaging. Its modular payload bay takes new sensors, including NOC's own RoCSI environmental-DNA sampler. Both vehicles navigate with acoustic beacons, inertial navigation and seafloor-referenced positioning, and they use obstacle-avoidance and adaptive mission-planning software.
NOC's glider group runs Teledyne Slocum gliders and Seagliders, which are buoyancy-driven underwater vehicles, and wave-powered Wave Gliders on the surface. NOC glider missions have worked near the giant iceberg A-68a and in ice-covered polar waters. One Slocum glider ran for more than 10 months in the Southern Ocean on the CUSTARD project, NOC's longest continuous autonomous mission. Through its subsidiary NOC Innovations, the Southampton Glider Service Centre is Teledyne's accredited service centre for Slocum gliders in Europe and offers repair, calibration, training and upgrades. NOC engineers have also modified Slocum gliders with upward-looking altimeters, extra positioning systems and upgraded processors for under-ice missions such as BIOPOLE.
For intervention work, NOC operates ROV Isis, the UK's flagship deep-diving science ROV. Isis weighs 4,000 kg, is rated to 6,500 m and has made more than 500 dives. Its work includes finding the southernmost hydrothermal vents in Antarctica, revisiting a 44-year-old deep-sea mining track at 4,700 m for the SMARTEX project, and a CO2-release experiment for the STEMM-CCS carbon-storage study. HyBIS is a 6,000 m fibre-optic-controlled sampler that can handle net loads of up to 700 kg, and it has also recovered lost seabed landers.
NOC supports the UK marine-robotics industry through the GBP 3 million Marine Robotics Innovation Centre in Southampton, opened in November 2015 as a base for companies developing Autosubs, gliders and ROVs. It also runs testing facilities, laboratories and workshops, the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the National Oceanographic Library. In 2026 NOC opened market engagement for a new GBP 65-100 million marine research vessel.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
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Contact National Oceanography Centre
WEBSITE
https://noc.ac.ukPHONE
+44 300 131 2321HEADQUARTERS
United Kingdom
Company Facts
Founded
2005
Primary Role
Research Institute
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Europe
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Grant / Non-profit
Funding Total
-
