Douglas-Westwood, an energy research group, says (in their $5,000 World ROV Operations Market Forecast 2013-2017 report), that ROV operations expenditures will grow 80% over the next 5 years.
- 75% of the ROV vehicles are used as work-class vehicles; the remainder are for inspection.
- The combined purchase and operations expenditures over those years will be $9.7 billion.
- Insight into those numbers provided by Unmanned Vehicle Systems Consulting said that global ROV sales in 2010 were $850 million of which 50% were for energy use; 25% for defense and security and 25% for scientific research.
- Further, roughly 20% of the vehicles were autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs); the rest were ROVs (remotely operated vehicles).