"Robot Boat Maps Pacific Underwater Volcano"

"A robot boat, controlled from the UK, has returned from an initial survey of the underwater Tongan volcano that erupted explosively back in January.

The Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) Maxlimer is part-way through mapping the opening, or caldera, of the underwater Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai (HTHH) volcano.

The vessel, developed by the British company Sea-Kit International, is surveying the volcano as part of the second phase of the Tonga Eruption Seabed Mapping Project (TESMaP), led by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) and funded by the Nippon Foundation of Japan."

Sophie Ormiston reports for BBC News August 20, 2022.