Dunsborough-based firm Nauti-Craft was last night presented with a prestigious award in London for its development of an innovative marine suspension system.
Dunsborough-based firm Nauti-Craft was last night presented with a prestigious award in London for its development of an innovative marine suspension system.
The company was awarded the 2018 Royal Institution of Naval Architects/QinetiQ Maritime Innovation Award for its development of the Nauti-Craft Marine Suspension System (NCMSS), an approach to improving the ride, handling, comfort and safety of marine vessels.
The award is sponsored by Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), an organisation with members in over 90 countries, and QinetiQ, a UK-based science and engineering company operating primarily in the defence, security and critical infrastructure markets.
The judging panel said the development showed great innovation, with the potential to provide benefits to the operational window for high-speed craft, both civilian and military.
The fact that the Nauti-Craft team had committed to building a number of demonstrators and tested the concept gave the panel strong confidence that the concept would work in practice, they said.
The award was presented to chairman, inventor and founder of Nauti-Craft, Chris Heyring, at RINA’s annual dinner.
“Nauti-Craft are extremely honoured to accept this award from two such prestigious bodies in the maritime world,” Mr Heyring said.
“It also provides tremendous recognition to the team at Nauti-Craft and those that have backed the company”.
Mr Heyring also acknowledged the foresight and support of the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator program, whose guidance and support of over £600,000 allowed the application of the technology to offshore wind applications to be at a commercial ready stage.
The Carbon Trust’s manager of offshore wind, Dan Kyle Spearman, said he was pleased the Nauti-Craft design had received the award from industry.
“We have been supporting the Nauti-Craft’s development since 2010 through our flagship Offshore Wind Accelerator program, and think the vessel is truly innovative and has great potential for use in the offshore wind industry,” he said.
“We are looking to the next stage of support to get a vessel in the water.”
