Houston-based Nauticus Robotics Inc. (Nasdaq: KITT), a company that uses robotics for subsea operations, signed a deal with London-based Shell PLC (NYSE: SHEL) for offshore service maintenance, signaling a major energy commitment for the newly public company.
Per the deal, which was announced Sept. 14, Nauticus will deploy its autonomous subsea robot Aquanaut in the Gulf of Mexico, performing inspections on one of Shell’s developments. A company spokesperson could not disclose terms of the deal or the installation undergoing service but said a single Aquanaut unit would be used for the initial job.
Nauticus CEO Nicolaus Radford previously told Houston Inno that the company was moving into offshore energy installations around the globe, beginning in early 2023 with an expansion into new offices in Norway and Scotland. Radford said many of the company’s previous commitments in Europe involved renewable energy instllations offshore.
“Nauticus now has visibility long-term (installation, maintenance and repair) services work for Shell and the opportunity to become the preferred supplier for this advanced work,” Radford said in the Sept. 14 announcement.
Other 2023 deals saw Nauticus deploy Aquanauts in Brazil to service Petrobras assets and into the Pacific Ocean as part of a memorandum of understanding with Australia-based offshore services company MMA Offshore Ltd.
The Shell deal also follows Nauticus going public in September 2022 through a merger with New York-based special purpose acquisition company Clean Tech Acquisition Corp., which was first announced in 2021. The deal was valued at $561 million.
In the company’s second-quarter earnings results, released in early August, Nauticus said it had $4.4 million in cash but anticipated needing more capital for continued expansion, as the company does not generate enough revenue currently to cover business expanses. Nauticus reported $1.1 million in revenue in Q2 2023 compared to $2.8 million in Q2 2022, with the company attributing the decline due to delays in government contract approval.
In addition to the Aquanaut, Nauticus also produces the Hydronaut, a remotely operated topshore ship. The company has a patent on subsea vehicles that can be operated autonomously or remotely, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A team of ex-NASA engineers founded Nauticus as Houston Mechatronics in 2014. The company develops subsea robots and works with government and commercial clients through a robotics-as-a-service model. Radford previously led spaceflight and defense robotics engineering efforts while working at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Nauticus recently signed a lease at the Ion, an incubator in Houston's Midtown.
Meanwhile, a Shell subsidiary began production at a Gulf of Mexico deep-water platform in February. Shell Offshore Inc. owns 63.11% of the platform, which is known as Vito. The rest is owned by Norway-based Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR).
