BlueZone Group to become Kraken’s Australian Sales Representative, Enhancing Sovereign Support for Cutting-edge Synthetic Aperture Sonar Systems

 

 

We are thrilled to announce BlueZone Group have signed an agreement with Canada’s Kraken Robotics Inc. to become Kraken’s authorised Sales Representative of Kraken Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and the KATFISH towed SAS platform in Australia and New Zealand. This represents an important milestone in our role as a trusted partner supporting advanced maritime technologies.

 

Earlier this year BlueZone Group was pleased to welcome team members from Kraken Robotics in supporting the sustainment of their industry-leading Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) towfish; KATFISH. Strengthening our growing relationship, over the following weeks, our team worked alongside Kraken Robotics to service and upgrade the KATFISH, which is currently operated by Royal Australian Navy Hydrographers. This effort will bring the system into alignment with the most recent operational standard.

 

“Kraken’s technologies are deployed globally in support of critical naval operations, making strong local partnerships essential to our success,” said Greg Reid, President and CEO of Kraken Robotics. “Our collaboration with BlueZone Group enhances regional support across Australia and New Zealand, enabling increased access to our advanced SAS systems for mine countermeasure operations, critical underwater infrastructure inspection, and other survey needs.”

 

The KATFISH is a high-performance SAS towfish with impressive capabilities. It operates at speeds between 4 and 10 knots, maintaining a survey altitude between 5 and 30 metres, and is effective at depths of up to 300 metres. Covering a greater area significantly reduces survey time, allowing for increasingly effective survey operations. Optimised for rapid, high-resolution data collection, the KATFISH swath covers 200 metres on each side, featuring a multibeam nadir gap filler to provide seamless coverage across the entire survey area.

 

With efficiency at the forefront of its creation, the KATFISH delivers real-time synthetic aperture sonar imagery with resolution as fine as 3 cm by 3 cm, simultaneously generating 3D bathymetric maps at 25 cm by 25 cm resolution, reducing the time for post-processing edits. It also collects dynamically focused side scan sonar imagery while in operation, optimising image sharpness as the sonar scans the seabed. Post-processed synthetic aperture sonar data can achieve resolutions as detailed as 2 cm by 2 cm, providing extremely high-detailed mapping.

 

Designed for flexibility, KATFISH includes an autonomous launch and recovery system that can be deployed from any vessel capable of accommodating a standard ISO20 shipping container, providing operational ease across a wide range of platforms.

 

By becoming Kraken’s sales representative in Australia and New Zealand, BlueZone Group reinforces its commitment to delivering sovereign capability in the operation and support of hydrographic and oceanographic equipment. This ensures the Australian Defence Force maintains the tools it needs to safeguard our maritime interests and protect critical shipping lanes.

 

BlueZone Group is also proud to be the sole distributor of the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) from Huntington Ingalls Industries, which incorporates Kraken Robotics MINSAS—a configurable miniature interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar.

 

For more information on the KATFISH, please Contact the BlueZone Group sales team.

 

Read the full release here

 

From left to right: Nick Goodwin, Business Director, Asia Pacific at Kraken Robotics; Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy; Neil Hodges, Managing Director at BlueZone Group; and Roland Leyte, Business Development Manager at Kraken Robotics at the IndoPacific Maritime Exposition in Sydney, Australia. (Photo credit: Kraken Robotics).