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New Joint Venture Company Established
Innovation 4C, a new European joint venture company which aims to be a technology hothouse for the marine industry according to its Chief Executive, Stuart Heaver, has been established with headquarters at Whitstable, Kent. Its an amalgam of Verhaert of Antwerp, Belgium, 02 Marine Services in Kent and Fairwater Technology Group, Aberdeen.
According to the RN, the vessel will be available for operations for more than 334 days each year, a 50% improvement over earlier ships. Improved seakeeping will ensure that she will be able to carry out survey work in the UK Western Approaches for 90% of the year, representing a five-fold increase in efficiency.
‘We will combine new technology with industrial engineering and marketing’, adds Heaver whose fellow directors are Jason Reid and Koen Verhaert. Initial goals include a search for OEM partners in the marine industry for a range of new products and technologies. Among the first already identified for launch are a new miniature solid-state compass and attitude sensor (Min-IMU), an advanced opto-acoustic sub-bottom sonar (Rheosound), and a satellite-based track and trace system for vessels and buoys (S-Trac).
