Kraken Robotics has received a $9.5 million contract to supply high-resolution seabed mapping sonar equipment to a navy in the Asia-Pacific.
Under the agreement, Kraken will deliver its KATFISH high-speed mine hunting solution. The contract also includes a variety of support and sustainment options, including training, spares and operational support.
Delivery of the towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar, Tentacle Winch and Autonomous Launch and Recovery System (ALARS) will take place in Q2, 2023.
Kraken’s equipment will be integrated onboard a vessel of opportunity selected by the customer. Continuing to build off successful KATFISH deliveries with various NATO navies, this represents Kraken’s first KATFISH system sale in the Asia-Pacific region.
This contract follows the results of a successful in-country demonstration of KATFISH for the customer in Q1 2023. Kraken’s team worked alongside a local survey company to complete a 200km seabed survey that provided real-time ultra-high-resolution imagery and bathymetry of the seafloor along coastal waters.
Kraken is seeing continued opportunities for growth in all regions of the world as several trends are driving demand for Kraken’s synthetic aperture sonar technology. These include:
- A heightened focus on maritime security and protection of subsea infrastructure.
- An industry upgrade cycle and a gradual shift to smaller unmanned surface vessels for mine hunting. There are over 300 manned mine hunting vessels that are more than 20 years old and need to be upgraded over the next 5-10 years. Many of these will be replaced with smaller, unmanned vessels.
- Strong growth in the commercial market from growing requirements for high resolution data for seabed surveys and subsea asset inspection in the offshore oil and gas and offshore wind sectors.
