USA: Bluefin Robotics Announces Acquisition of Hawkes Remotes and Expands into ROV Market

Bluefin Robotics, a leader in the design and manufacturing of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) announced that the company has acquired the assets of Hawkes Remotes, Inc (HRI), a spinoff from Hawkes Ocean Technologies (HOT), that develops advanced Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).

Bluefin plans to leverage their AUV autonomy and subsea vehicle experience to add hybrid capabilities to the Hawkes ROVs and offer them as an extension of their current product line to the oil and gas industry.

“We are thrilled to be working with Bluefin Robotics to take this technology to market,” said Graham Hawkes, Co-Founder and CTO of Hawkes Remotes, Inc. and President and CTO of Hawkes Ocean Technologies. “Thanks to many years of experience and an extensive track record of designing and building AUVs, they’re a perfect fit to carry on the HRI vision of combining new and existing technologies to rethink the core designs of unmanned underwater vehicles.”

Bluefin’s decision to acquire the HRI designs stems from their mission to develop highly capable platforms for subsea survey and inspection-related tasks for the oil and gas industries. The Hawkes technology and design approach stood out among the crowd because it challenges the economics of deep ocean access via a ROV. The designs offer scalable, modular solutions including a thin, armored fiber-optic tether and on-board high-energy density batteries that will reduce the total cost of ownership/operating costs while simultaneously outperforming existing ROV technology.

“When we first considered purchasing HRI’s assets, we discovered that the companies shared many of the same philosophies and innovation goals,” explains David P. Kelly, President and CEO of Bluefin Robotics. “…vehicle modularity, on-board power, very deepwater ops, an efficient and cost-effective op tempo, rapid response deployments, for example.”

By combining the Hawkes Remotes technology with their own, Bluefin will provide a superior platform capable of providing an enhanced benefit to the commercial IRM market. The acquisition will enhance Bluefin’s product line by spanning the gap between the company’s fully autonomous systems and traditional ROVs.

“Offering additional autonomous platform options is essential in meeting current market needs, so we are pleased to be integrating this technology into our portfolio,” said Kelly. “We look forward to working with the Hawkes team and our commercial customers to optimize it for today’s IRM requirements.”

As part of the acquisition, Bluefin and Hawkes Ocean Technologies entered into a strategic relationship to bring the HRI ROV technology to market, but also to continuously advance the design and development of ROV platforms and technology.

ABOUT BLUEFIN ROBOTICS

Bluefin Robotics manufactures and develops Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) systems and related technology. Founded in 1997, the company has grown to become a world leader in subsea platforms designed for defense, commercial, and scientific applications. Bluefin Robotics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Battelle.

ABOUT HAWKES OCEAN TECHNOLOGIES

Hawkes Ocean Technologies, founded in 1995 by renowned marine engineer, Graham Hawkes, is a privately-held company based in the San Francisco Bay Area that designs, builds and operates the world’s most advanced manned vehicles for ocean exploration. Hawkes Ocean Technologies is currently working with private clients, industry, science and government to advance its DeepFlight series of winged submersibles for cost effective exploration of the oceans to all depths. The Company also serves as a skunkworks to spin out new technologies and companies, including Precision Remotes, Inc., Hawkes Ocean Sports, and Hawkes Remotes, Inc.

ABOUT HAWKES REMOTES, INC.

Hawkes Remotes Inc. was founded in 2010 as a spinoff from Hawkes Ocean Technologies, with the goal of introducing a new generation of battery-powered unmanned underwater vehicles. The Company has a deep array of proprietary technologies and a 40-year heritage of innovation in marine engineering from co-founder Graham Hawkes. Hawkes has designed and developed more than sixty manned submersibles, as well as diving suits, ROVs, manipulators and other tools for ocean access and work.

[mappress]
Source: Bluefin Robotics, September 15, 2011;