Nauti-Craft signs a Letter of Intent (LOI) with ST Engineering Marine Ltd
Nauti-Craft have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with ST Engineering Marine Ltd, the marine arm of Singapore headquarters ST Engineering, on 15 May 2020 to explore the opportunity to incorporate the innovative Nauti- Craft marine suspension technology into vessels built by ST Engineering.
With growing opportunities in Europe, Asia and the USA for the global offshore wind industry, the two companies are joining hands to develop vessels for these regions. The LOI sets out the intentions of the parties to further develop the business opportunity of, in the first instance, developing, building and supplying Nauti-Craft equipped Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV) to the offshore wind industry under license to Nauti-Craft.
Ken Johnsen, Managing Director of Nauti-Craft commented,
“It is exciting to be building a relationship with ST Engineering, a powerhouse in the engineering and marine sectors which ranks among the largest companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. We look forward to progressing it to the next stage as we jointly develop the business opportunity.”
Michael Bell, Senior Vice President (Marketing and Business Development), Marine arm, ST Engineering said,“We are always looking to strengthen our capabilities through partnerships with like-minded partners such as Nauti-Craft to implement innovative technologies into our future-ready vessels to better serve the evolving needs of our customers.”
ST Engineering has completed a preliminary design of a 20m CTV incorporating Nauti-Craft technology and this will be the initial focus of the business opportunity being explored.
Should further detailed study of the business opportunity indicate that it will be mutually beneficial, Nauti-Craft and ST Engineering will move to conclude a formal commercial agreement under which rights to use Nauti-Craft’s patented technology will be secured by ST Engineering.
CTVs incorporating Nauti-Craft’s marine suspension system greatly improve the operating window of a CTV in-service installing and maintaining offshore wind turbines. In some cases, up to a 70% increase in available days can be achieved by having a similar sized more capable vessel operating in high sea conditions transferring personnel to the wind turbine.
Alternatively, a smaller Nauti-Craft CTV can undertake the task of larger vessels therefore reducing both capital and operating expenses. In addition to providing increased access to the wind turbine in harsh weather, the transfer of personnel is much safer due to the vessel having a more stable deck both during transit to the turbine and during transfer of personnel onto the turbine.
While the initial focus of the cooperation is offshore wind vessels, the long term relationship could extend to multiple vessel applications in the commercial and defence sectors.
About ST Engineering Marine
ST Engineering’s Marine arm provides innovative solutions in turnkey building, repair and conversion services for a wide spectrum of naval and commercial vessels. We are one of the few shipyards in the world with the full range of capabilities to support the entire lifecycle of a ship.
Our established shipyards in Singapore and the U.S. have proven capabilities to design and build highly customised and technically sophisticated commercial and military vessels for customers worldwide.
