Sustainable maritime mobility specialist Regent has received an approval in principle (AiP) from Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore for its 12-passenger, fully electric seaglider, the Viceroy.
This marks an important certification milestone for seagliders, offering a path for the vehicle’s classification as a wing-in-ground effect (WIG) maritime vessel and the commencement of commercial seaglider operations.
Regent claims to have a backlog of $7bn in provisional orders for their seagliders from ferry and aviation operators.
New category of electric vehicle
The Viceroy represents a new category of electric vehicle that operate over the water and which aim to drastically reduce the time and cost of moving people and goods between coastal cities. Seagliders will service routes up to 180 miles with existing battery technology and up to 500 miles with next-generation batteries, via existing dock infrastructure.
The AiP is a validated third-party technical assessment for the seaglider completed by Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore and the culmination of a 10-month long engagement between Regent and Bureau Veritas engineers. This included a series of workshops encompassing aspects of the vehicle’s structure, mechanical systems, avionics, propulsion, and safety systems.
Sustainable maritime mobility specialist Regent has received an approval in principle (AiP) from Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore for its 12-passenger, fully electric seaglider, the Viceroy.
This marks an important certification milestone for seagliders, offering a path for the vehicle’s classification as a wing-in-ground effect (WIG) maritime vessel and the commencement of commercial seaglider operations.
Regent claims to have a backlog of $7bn in provisional orders for their seagliders from ferry and aviation operators.
“The approval in principle confirms we are on an achievable certification path towards the commercialisation of seagliders”
Throughout the process, Bureau Veritas provided preliminary expert advice with a focus on the early identification of rules and regulatory framing for the seaglider’s classification.
“This certification milestone is an extremely important moment for the seaglider’s design and technical maturity. It is the first major outcome of our maritime certification process. The approval in principle confirms we are on an achievable certification path towards the commercialisation of seagliders.” said Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and CEO of Regent.
The approval-in-principle (AiP) will be followed by a design appraisal process, a series of technical studies underway that will allow the implementation of the seaglider’s design and operation without significant risk of compliance or qualification issues.
In conducting a design appraisal, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore will provide an independent, safety-based certification of Regent’s seaglider design. The company will also be leveraging the AiP in support of a design basis agreement (DBA) with the US Coast Guard, which is expected this autumn.
Hawaiian seaglider network
In June, Regent announced a partnership to explore the build-out of a seaglider transportation network in the State of Hawaii to drive innovation in the passenger and freight sectors in support of a more resilient and sustainable transportation ecosystem for.
In August, it announced that it is working with the SiemensXcelerator portfolio to create a digital twin as an essential component of its testing campaign.
Source: smartcitiesworld.net
Source: IOT NETWORK NEWS
