The Proteus Ocean Group and the US Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center have signed a cooperative research and development agreement.
The new partnership aims to drive forward the design, concepts and solutions for underwater habitats and operations.
The move comes in the wake of the recent agreement signed between Proteus Group and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and sees the group move forward in its goal of creating the “international space station of the ocean.”
PROTEUS will be the first habitat of its kind and is set to be built off the Caribbean Island of Curacao. Various stakeholders will then use the habitats to study the marine environment. The habitat will feature state-of-the-art laboratories as well as audio-visual equipment and more.
Commenting on the new agreement, Dr. Jason Gomez, the chief technology officer at NUWC Newport, said:
“NUWC Division Newport has over 150 years of experience developing undersea technologies, including Ocean & Biological Inspired Sciences. We actively partner with other organizations to make this expertise and technology available for use in both public and private sectors. We are very excited to collaborate with PROTEUS and explore the use of habitats for research purposes.”
While Proteus Ocean Group founder Fabien Cousteau stated:
“We welcome NUWC’s experience and collaboration, and the opportunity to see how technologies derived from U.S. Navy research can be used for civilian applications. Important partnerships like this one are vital to ensure a safe and secure path forward as we work together to advance ocean exploration, now and in the future.”
