Kraken Robotics Inc. has announced the successful completion of a contract to supply high-resolution seabed mapping sonar service to Precision Hydrographic Services (PHS), a customer supporting the Australian Department of Defence.
The Australian Department of Defence project sought to undertake Hydrographic High Resolution Route Surveys (RS) for a number of Australian ports. The purpose of these surveys was to enable the collection of Maritime Geospatial Information (MGI) to support maritime domain awareness through the acquisition of high-resolution seabed foundation data and associated oceanographic data.
Managing Director of Precision Hydrographic Services Pty Ltd (PHS), Neil Hewitt stated: “Our decision to partner with Kraken Robotics and the KATFISH synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) system for this important Defence project has proven to be highly successful. Over the course of five months our team travelled non-stop from port to port and surveyed several thousand line-miles of Australia’s most important ports and waterways for Defence. The Kraken KATFISH performed faultlessly with not one hour of downtime.”
Kraken President and CEO, Greg Reid commented: “The Australian Defence Route Survey project has provided an excellent opportunity to test and demonstrate the performance of the Kraken KATFISH system. This is the first time that a customer has undertaken a wide area, multi-port survey project of this scale with the KATFISH - anywhere in the world. To do so in a safe and efficient manner with no downtime is a great credit to the vessel crew and the teamwork of the technical and survey personnel from PHS and Kraken Robotics.”
PHS and Kraken Teams in Australia
Under the scope of Kraken’s contract, a KATFISH™ high-speed survey/detection solution was used to acquire high-resolution route surveys of Australian ports. Under the contract, the survey campaign commenced in January 2024 and was fully complete in May 2024. This contract follows the results of a successful in-country demonstration of KATFISH™ for the RAN in Q1 of 2023 and the purchase of a KATFISH system by the RAN in Q2, 2023.
About Katfish
The KATFISH is a high-speed seabed survey system providing ultra-high resolution seabed imagery and bathymetry for defense and commercial customers. The acoustic imagery and bathymetry collected by KATFISH systems provides customers with actionable intelligence about subsea assets and infrastructure such as subsea pipelines and fiber optic cables, as well as important hydrographic information about the safety of key transit routes for ocean going assets. Kraken has integrated KATFISH to a variety of manned and unmanned vessels of opportunity, providing both standalone turnkey seabed mapping as well as optional integration to a customer’s combat mission management systems.
About Kraken Robotics Inc.
Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V:PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company providing complex subsea sensors, batteries, and robotic systems. Their high-resolution 3D acoustic imaging solutions and services enable clients to overcome the challenges in our oceans - safely, efficiently, and sustainably. Kraken Robotics is headquartered in Canada and has offices in North and South America and Europe. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter.