Saronic acquires Louisiana shipyard, unveils Marauder MUSV

A computer-generated image of Saronic's Marauder MUSV design. (Saronic Technologies)

Saronic Technologies has acquired Gulf Craft, a shipbuilder in Franklin, Louisiana, to serve as the “prototyping and production hub for its medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) fleet”, according to a company statement on 16 April. The acquisition has been completed, a Saronic spokesperson told Janes on 28 April, declining to disclose the terms of the deal.

The acquisition provides Saronic with a “strategically located shipyard on the Gulf Coast with the infrastructure and workforce needed to develop, rapidly iterate, and scale production of its 150 ft Marauder product for both defence and commercial customers”, the spokesperson said.

Gulf Craft has been building 100–200 ft aluminium hull ships for 60 years, including optionally manned vehicles, the spokesperson noted. “We will not continue to build manned vessels at the shipyard, nor does it have an existing backlog of vessels to produce. All capacity will be allocated to Saronic priorities, and the facility will serve as the prototyping and production hub for Marauder,” the spokesperson added.

The shipyard will provide the “immediate capacity to meet urgent customer needs for larger autonomous vessels and the flexibility to scale to address emerging commercial and defence applications of these advanced systems”, while the company continues to look for a location for its larger, advanced Port Alpha shipyard, Dino Mavrookas, the CEO for Saronic Technologies, said in the statement.

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