Zhuhai Cloud is a oceanography research vessel designed for uncrewed operations in open waters[1] and as a mother ship for uncrewed vehicles.[2] She has been called the first "drone mothership"[1] and the first "unmanned vehicle carrier".[2]
The ship was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation's Huangpu Wenchong for Sun Yat-sen University's Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory.[2] The laboratory's goal is to surveil an underwater and above water area 50 nautical miles in diameter using a network of unmanned devices.[2]
Zhuhai Cloud may have military applications. Timothy Heath, a RAND Corporation analyst, believes these include accurately mapping depths for submarines, and deploying smart mines.[1]