ABSTRACT This study introduces an economical experimental approach for measuring the hydrodynamic inertia ( C M ) and drag ( C D ) coefficients of an open-frame ROV to support the stock assessment of scallops in the North Sea of Peru. A 1:3 scale ROV model was tested, suspended on springs, and set to oscillate freely in still water. The multiple spring groups provide equivalent stiffness, initial displacement, and natural frequencies for different cases. Three damping models—linear, quadratic, and linear-plus-quadratic—were applied to describe the motion equations, with the linear plus-quadratic model best fitting the experimental data. The coefficients and were analyzed against Reynolds (Re) numbers from 0.2×10 5 and 0.6×10 5 and Keulegan Carpenter (KC) numbers from 0.5 to 2. A strong correlation was observed with previous forced oscillation tests on cylinders and irregular bodies; thus, this methodology can be used to determine the hydrodynamic coefficients of ROVs.