ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND – 6 JANUARY 2020 /GLOBE NEWSWIRE/ – Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX-V: PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) (“Kraken” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has been awarded a contract valued at $524,720 with the Government of Canada for Kraken’s SeaVision® 3D laser scanner. SeaVision® was initially pre-qualified under the Canadian government’s Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP). Effective April 1, 2019, BCIP became the Innovative Solutions Canada –Testing Stream (ISC-TS), delivered by Innovation, Science & Economic Development’s Innovation Canada Sector. Kraken expects to deliver SeaVision® to its test partner, Parks Canada – Underwater Archaeology Team (UAT) during Q3 2020. Parks Canada and Kraken plan to conduct at-sea testing and evaluation of the SeaVision® system at a variety of archaeologically significant sites including the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror at the National Historic Site of Canada, Nunavut. Kraken was previously involved in Parks Canada’s discovery of the HMS Erebus during the Franklin Expedition in Summer 2014.

 

About SeaVision®

SeaVision® is an underwater 3D laser imaging system designed to be fitted to remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles. The system delivers real-time, full colour 3D point cloud images of subsea infrastructure with millimetre accuracy. These datasets create highly detailed models for 3D visualization to support complex machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms used for analytics. SeaVision® simplifies creating dynamic digital models of subsea physical assets and systems. This helps build and operate digital twin applications to gain knowledge and insights about performance of future operations.

 

Karl Kenny, Kraken President & CEO said, “In subsea inspection applications such as offshore wind, subsea oil and gas and underwater archaeology, we believe that a self-contained, motion-corrected 3D laser scanner on a small powerful ROV offers a significant competitive advantage to what currently is available on the market. It is also a significant quality improvement to purely optical inspection. Existing underwater laser products require a combination of a high-grade navigation payload for motion correction and require a larger stable ROV. Other market solutions for subsea 3D asset reconstruction are based on photogrammetry and inherently have less precision and range than Kraken’s SeaVision® 3D laser system.  We are confident that SeaVision® offers a superior price and performance value proposition.”

 

About Parks Canada Underwater Archaeology Team (UAT)

Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team (UAT) conducts comprehensive scientific diving and remote-sensing surveys to identify, inventory, evaluate, and interpret submerged cultural resources within the Parks Canada mandate. This includes an expanding system of National Historic Sites, National Parks, National Park Reserves, National Marine Conservation Areas, National Marine Parks, and Heritage Rivers. The UAT is also a recognized Federal Authority for the evaluation of submerged cultural resources under the provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. As such, the UAT is called upon to conduct archaeological site investigations throughout Canada in both marine and fresh-water environments (including the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes).

 

The detailed documentation and analysis of submerged archaeological structures such as wharves, cribs, fish weirs, and shipwrecks is the main operational focus of the UAT.  In the course of its archaeological survey operations across Canada, the UAT has increasingly enlisted 3D imaging technologies to locate and document complex cultural features and to situate these features in a precise geo-referenced bathymetric context.

 

ABOUT KRAKEN ROBOTICS INC.

Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V:PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Bremen & Rostock, Germany; and Boston, Massachusetts. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter. For more information, please visit www.krakenrobotics.com, www.krakenrobotik.de, www.krakenpower.de. Find us on social media on Twitter (@krakenrobotics), Facebook (@krakenroboticsinc) and LinkedIn.

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “seek”, “propose”, “estimate”, “expect”, and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, disclosure about the terms of the Transaction and about Kraken Power. The Company made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to, ability to obtain all requisite approvals to complete the Transaction, general business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance, business projects and opportunities and financial results. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events, including the completion of the Transaction, to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in the Company’s public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this news release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this news release and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this news release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward‐looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provide (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and the TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

 

For further information, please contact:

Joe MacKay, Chief Financial Officer

(416) 303-0605

jmackay@krakenrobotics.com

 

Greg Reid, Chief Operating Officer

(416) 818-9822

greid@krakenrobotics.com

 

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations

(647) 955-1274

sean@sophiccapital.com

 

Shauna Cotie, Marketing Manager

(709) 757-5757 x 241

scotie@krakenrobotics.com