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Autonomous surface vessel (ASV) developer Blue Water Autonomy has entered into a production agreement with Conrad Shipyard, signifying that the company is shifting its focus to ship construction.
The agreement follows Blue Water’s announcement last month that it raised $50 million in a Series A funding round that solidifies its goal of building its first long-range autonomous ship that will be in the water later this year and deployed in 2026 (Defense Daily, Aug. 26).
Conrad, which is based in Louisiana, will build Boston-based Blue Water’s first class of vessels. Blue Water said that Conrad will use advanced shipbuilding capabilities that include highly automated panel line and welding techniques to allow parallel builds and to scale throughput.
“We’re designing for deployment, not just demonstration,” Rylan Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Blue Water, said in a statement. “Conrad is a world-class shipbuilder with proven capability, and this partnership puts us in a position to deliver ships quickly, while demonstrating the expertise and scale of existing U.S. shipbuilding capacity.”
Conrad’s portfolio includes tugs, barges, ferries, offshore support vessels, and LNG transports.
Contracting with Conrad is part of Blue Water’s strategy to tap “underutilized” small and medium-sized U.S. shipyards, the company said.
