Kraken will build the underwater drones, run the missions and analyze the data
ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland, Sept. 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX-V: PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) (“Kraken” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has launched the initial phase of its OceanVision™ project. Commencing in late September, Kraken will deploy its sensors and unmanned underwater platforms to conduct ultra-high definition seabed imaging and mapping on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and other areas of Atlantic Canada.
OceanVision™ is a three-year, $20 million project focused on the development of new marine technologies and products to enable an underwater data acquisition and analytics as a service business. OceanVision™ enables the acceleration of Kraken’s strategy from sensors and system sales to becoming an integrated provider of Robotics as a Service (RaaS) and Data as a Service (DaaS).
Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President and CEO said, “We are pleased to reach this major milestone and officially launch our OceanVision™ project. OceanVision™ will result in an end-to-end digitalization solution offering advanced sensors, robots and data analytics as a turnkey service for imaging and mapping of the seafloor as well as seabed assets and infrastructure. Today, high fidelity data is an absolute requirement for coherent input to machine learning algorithms – otherwise it’s garbage in, garbage out. We are uniquely positioned in the underwater industry as Kraken will build, own and operate the sensor-laden drones; Kraken (and partners) will run the missions; and Kraken (and partners) will analyze the data for our customers.”
“We expect recurring revenues from RaaS/DaaS to become a significant part of our future revenue mix and strategic growth. Rapid subsea data acquisition and analytics will make it possible to significantly reduce the cost of obtaining high quality data allowing end-users to make more informed operational decisions in near real-time. The new technologies and services that Kraken will develop within the scope of the OceanVision™ project are currently not available in a tightly integrated offering in the marine industry.”
OceanVision™ will enable Kraken to further new technology and product development and fine-tune recurring revenue business models. While near-term focus of the project will be the Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance (IRM) segments for offshore energy (oil & gas and wind), OceanVision™ will also address the requirements of other stakeholders in the fisheries, aquaculture, ocean science and underwater defense industries.
With reference to IRM in the offshore oil and gas sector, market analysts Westwood Global Energy Group, have stated that the stabilization of oil prices is spurring a new wave of offshore investments. Westwood expects a significant volume of IMR activity to return to the market, with vessel related IMR activity expenditures forecast to be over US$21 billion over 2019-2023. This represents a 25% growth compared to the 2014-2018 period.
The challenges with oil and gas assets have many similarities with those of offshore wind. Windfarm installation and maintenance can be dangerous and costly and requires constant inspections and upkeep to maintain efficiency and maximize productivity. Markets and Markets estimate that the offshore wind market is expected to grow from an estimated US$27 billion in 2017 to over US$ 55 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of over 15%. This growth is attributed to the increasing demand for clean energy in order to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment by generating electricity through renewable resources. Today the United States has one offshore wind farm consisting of five turbines, compared to over 4,500 grid-connected offshore wind turbines across 11 European countries.
Kraken also announces that its Board of Directors has approved the issuance of 2,755,000 stock options to company employees. These options have a three-year term, with vesting in three equal instalments consisting of the date of grant and on the one and two-year anniversaries of the initial grant. The exercise price on the options is $0.53.
ABOUT KRAKEN ROBOTICS INC.
Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V:PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors, underwater robotic systems and data analytics as a service. The company is headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Bremen and Rostock Germany; and Boston, Massachusetts. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter. For more information, please visit www.krakenrobotics.com, www.krakenrobotik.de, www.krakenpower.de. Find us on social media on Twitter (@krakenrobotics), Facebook (@krakenroboticsinc) and LinkedIn.
Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "seek", "propose", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance, business projects and opportunities and financial results. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in the Company's public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this news release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this news release and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this news release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provide (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and the OTCQB has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
For further information, please contact:
Joe MacKay, Chief Financial Officer (416) 303-0605 jmackay@krakenrobotics.com
Kraken’s KATFISH™ high speed Synthetic Aperture Sonar towfish will be used to acquire ultra-high definition seabed images and bathymetry during the OceanVision™ project.
Source: GlobeNewswire
(September 9, 2019 - 6:00 AM EDT)
