WAMS Subsea

Name

WAMS Subsea

Legal name

W.A. Marítimos Serviços Ltda.

Website

https://wams.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Survey Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Oil & Gas Field Services, Nec (1389)

akta.pro primary industry

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) & Autonomous Subsea Platforms (IMABAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Underwater Inspection, Maintenance & Repair (UWILD, Diving/ROV, In-water Cleaning) (IMAJAFAJ), Sonar, Undersea Sensors & Acoustic Detection Systems (IMABAGAD)

Keywords

• Hydrographic survey services
• Marine geophysical surveys
• Autonomous marine drones
• Oceanographic data acquisition
• Subsea equipment rental

Headquarters

HQ city

Rio de Janeiro

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marine Survey Services: Full-service hydrographic, geophysical, and oceanographic survey projects executed using company-owned USV and ROV fleets. Projects include bathymetric surveys, sub-bottom profiling, environmental monitoring, and underwater inspections.
2. Equipment Rental: Short and long-term rental of high-precision oceanographic, geophysical, and hydrographic equipment including ADCPs, GNSS receivers, sonar systems, inertial navigation systems, and water level sensors. Flexible rental periods with technical support included.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WAMS Subsea delivers integrated marine survey solutions — hydrographic, geophysical, oceanographic, and environmental monitoring — executed with an autonomous drone fleet comprising the USV Exail DriX (GUARÁ), USV Hi-Target BS-15, and ROV QYSEA FIFISH E-Master Navi. Complementing the survey services, the company rents calibrated, high-precision oceanographic, geophysical, and hydrographic instruments (multibeam sonars, ADCPs, inertial navigation systems, sub-bottom profilers, GNSS receivers, USBL transponders) to B2B clients throughout Brazil. All deliverables conform to IHO S-44 and NORMAM-25 standards.

Product overview

WAMS Subsea is a Brazilian marine engineering company providing integrated solutions in hydrographic, geophysical, and oceanographic surveys, along with subsea inspections and precision equipment rental. The company operates a fleet of autonomous marine drones (USVs and ROVs) including the USV Exail DriX (their flagship for large-scale offshore surveys), USV Hi-Target BS-15 (for shallow water operations), and ROV QYSEA FIFISH E-Master Navi (for underwater inspections). Their equipment rental catalog includes Norbit Winghead i77h multibeam sonar, Nortek Aquadopp and DVL sensors, Valeport sound velocity profilers, iXblue navigation and sub-bottom profilers, Impact Subsea imaging sonars, and various GNSS receivers. The portfolio is unified through their 'Class A' data standard and nationwide operational deployment from their Rio de Janeiro base.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hydrographic Survey Services Class A hydrographic surveys using USVs for ports, navigation channels, and offshore projects. Covers bathymetry, positioning, tides, and currents per IHO S-44 and NORMAM-25 standards, including the first Special Order Category A USV survey in Brazil at Porto do Pecém, approved by CHM for nautical chart updates.
• Geophysical Survey Services Marine geophysical surveys including sub-bottom profiling (SBP), shallow seismic, side-scan sonar, and magnetometer surveys. Supports cable and pipeline routing, foundation planning, and geological hazard detection for offshore energy and infrastructure projects.
• Oceanographic Survey Services Collection and analysis of oceanographic data including currents, waves, tides, and temperature. Supports offshore operations safety, dispersion modeling, and coastal engineering projects.
• Environmental Monitoring Services Marine environmental monitoring including water quality, currents, tides, biomass surveys, and compliance monitoring. Provides Class A data for environmental impact assessments.
• Norbit Winghead i77h Multibeam Sonar Rental Rental of the Norbit Winghead i77h curved cylindrical array multibeam sonar with 1024 beams, 0.5° x 0.9° resolution, integrated Applanix WaveMaster II INS/GNSS, and up to 210° swath coverage from 0.2m to 275m+ depths. For hydrographic and geophysical survey clients in Brazil.
• Nortek Aquadopp ADCP Rental Rental of Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers in 300m, 3000m, and 6000m depth configurations for measuring ocean currents and waves with high resolution. Targeted at oceanographic studies and offshore engineering projects.
• Nortek DVL 500 Compact Rental Rental of Doppler velocity log for precise underwater navigation of ROVs and AUVs, providing velocity and altitude data up to 4000m depth. Essential for hydrographic surveys and underwater infrastructure positioning.
• Valeport SWIFT SVP Rental Rental of portable sound velocity profiler with integrated GPS and Bluetooth connectivity for hydrographic surveys, providing rapid SV, temperature, and pressure data for real-time correction of multibeam and single-beam bathymetric data.
• Valeport Mini SVS Rental Rental of compact titanium-housed sound velocity sensor for real-time measurements, operating up to 6000m depth, designed for integration with ROVs, AUVs, and portable profiling systems.
• iXblue Rovins Nano INS Rental Rental of compact fiber optic gyroscope-based inertial navigation system for ROVs and AUVs, providing precise positioning, heading, and attitude data without GPS dependency, rated to 4000m depth.
• iXblue Echoes 3500 T1 Sub-Bottom Profiler Rental Rental of CHIRP sub-bottom profiler operating at 1.8-6.2 kHz with penetration up to 150m below seabed for high-resolution imaging of subsurface layers in geophysical surveys and geological characterization.
• Reach RS2 GNSS Receiver Rental Rental of RTK GNSS receiver providing centimeter-level positioning accuracy, supporting GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou constellations, IP67 rated with up to 22 hours battery life for coastal and terrestrial surveys.
• Stonex S980A GNSS Receiver Rental Rental of multi-constellation RTK GNSS receiver supporting GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS, with integrated UHF radio for long-range base/rover operations, IP68 rated for harsh field conditions.
• Kongsberg MiniS 34 Transponder Rental Rental of compact acoustic transponder for USBL/LBL underwater positioning systems, supporting digital communication via Cymbal protocol with up to 4000m range for ROV and AUV tracking.
• Impact Subsea ISA500 RA-L Rental Rental of high-frequency imaging sonar and precision altimeter in titanium housing with up to 120m range and millimeter precision, operating up to 6000m depth with optional AHRS.
• Impact Subsea ISD4000 Rental Rental of multifunctional sonar combining imaging sonar, profiler, and altimeter, operating up to 4000m depth with high-resolution acoustic imaging for real-time navigation and mapping.
• RBR solo3 D|tide Rental Rental of high-resolution tide and depth data logger with 24-bit resolution and automatic atmospheric pressure compensation for accurate tide measurements, storing millions of readings with long battery life.
• HOBO Water Level Logger Rental Rental of submersible water level sensors including the MX2001 stainless steel model with ±0.05% FS accuracy, Bluetooth connectivity, and IP68 rating for water monitoring in coastal, river, and reservoir environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• First USV-based Special Order Category A survey in Brazil, approved by CHM
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and flagship.

• ExailcoreTechnology or IntegrationExail is the manufacturer of the DriX USV, which WAMS operates as the only company in Brazil. The DriX GUARÁ is the flagship platform for WAMS's large-scale hydrographic and geophysical surveys. WAMS conducts sensor testing and calibration aboard the DriX platform.
• QYSEAcoreTechnology or IntegrationQYSEA manufactures the FIFISH E-Master Navi ROV used by WAMS for underwater inspections. The ROV features 4K UHD camera and integrated navigation systems for precise underwater operations.
• Hi-TargetcoreTechnology or IntegrationHi-Target manufactures the BS-15 USV operated by WAMS for shallow water bathymetric surveys with RTK precision positioning.
• NortekmajorTechnology or IntegrationNortek provides Aquadopp ADCP sensors (300m, 3000m, 6000m) and DVL 500 Compact systems for WAMS's equipment rental fleet. WAMS rents these sensors for oceanographic and navigation applications.
• iXblue (Exail)majorTechnology or IntegrationiXblue (now part of Exail) manufactures the Rovins Nano INS and Echoes 3500 T1 SBP profiler in WAMS's rental fleet for inertial navigation and sub-bottom profiling.
• ValeportmajorTechnology or IntegrationValeport (now part of Teledyne Marine) provides SWIFT SVP and Mini SVS sound velocity profilers for WAMS's rental equipment catalog.
• NorbitmajorTechnology or IntegrationNorbit manufactures the Winghead i77h multibeam sonar - the first curved cylindrical array sonar - which WAMS offers for rental in Brazil.
• Impact SubseamajorTechnology or IntegrationImpact Subsea provides ISD4000 and ISA500 RA-L sonar systems for WAMS's rental fleet, enabling high-precision underwater imaging and altimetry.
• KongsbergmajorTechnology or IntegrationKongsberg manufactures the MiniS 34 acoustic transponder available for rental from WAMS for USBL/LBL underwater positioning systems.
• Marinha do BrasilflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Navy organizes ARAMUSS (Aratu Maritime Unmanned Systems Simulation), a pioneering event for maritime autonomous systems. WAMS participated in ARAMUSS 2025 at Base Naval de Aratu, Salvador, engaging with government, industry, and academia stakeholders.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EIVA: Denmark-based provider of hydrographic survey software, equipment, and integrated survey services. Comparable to WAMS in delivering Class A hydrographic data and turnkey survey projects, with similar mid-sized niche positioning.
• DeepOcean: Subsea services provider offering survey, inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) using ROVs and autonomous platforms. Directly comparable to WAMS's ROV inspection and hydrographic survey capabilities for offshore clients.
• Ocean Infinity: Global leader in autonomous marine robotics, operating large USV fleets for hydrographic, geophysical, and geotechnical surveys. Highly comparable to WAMS in service offering (USV-based seabed mapping) but operates globally with a substantially larger fleet.
• Exail: Manufacturer of the DriX USV (which WAMS operates) and inertial navigation systems. Exail also runs its own marine autonomy and survey services globally, making it both a key technology partner and a direct competitor for autonomous survey work.

Others

• Norbit: Norwegian manufacturer of multibeam sonars (including the Winghead i77h that WAMS rents). An equipment supplier to WAMS rather than a direct competitor, but adjacent in the marine survey value chain.

Broad incumbents

• Saab Seaeye: Leading manufacturer of electric ROVs used for subsea inspection and survey. Comparable to WAMS in ROV-based inspection services, though Saab focuses on hardware with a different commercial model.
• Teledyne Marine: Global marine technology group producing sonars, sound velocity profilers, AUVs, and integrated survey solutions. Overlaps with WAMS as a supplier-adjacent competitor offering both equipment and survey services.
• Kongsberg Maritime: Major marine technology provider of acoustic positioning, sonars, and autonomous underwater platforms. Competes with WAMS for survey-grade positioning work and operates as both supplier and survey service provider.
• Fugro: Largest global provider of hydrographic, geophysical, and geotechnical survey services for offshore energy, ports, and infrastructure. Competes with WAMS for large Brazilian survey tenders but serves a much broader portfolio and geography.

Emerging players

• HydroSurv: UK-based specialist in USV-based hydrographic and geophysical surveys for offshore renewables, ports, and environmental monitoring. Closely comparable to WAMS in operating model (USV-led survey services for niche verticals).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@wamsbr
• Facebookfacebook.com/wamsbrasil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wamsbr
• Instagraminstagram.com/wamsbrasil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WAMS Subsea