Canadian Shipbuilder Expands with New U.S. Facility
Canadian EV shipbuilder Voltari Marine Electric Inc. is expanding its North American manufacturing footprint with the establishment of a new U.S. facility in Bay County, Florida.
As part of a strategic growth initiative formerly known as “Project Kilowatt,” Voltari will acquire and transform the Queen Craft Shipyard, operating since 1974, to support increased production capacity for U.S.-based customers while maintaining its Canadian headquarters and core operations.
Voltari is a vertically integrated shipbuilder specializing in the design, development and manufacturing of electric propulsion systems with marine-grade high-kW battery manufacturing, carbon fiber hulls, software and autonomous/unmanned technologies (USV) for the defense, government fleet, commercial, and leisure industries.
“The launch of Voltari’s U.S. Shipyard represents a major milestone in our company’s goal to be the global leader in marine EV,” said Cam Heaps, Chief Executive Officer of Voltari.
Voltari said its investment of $37.5m into the project will create 285 new jobs. The shipyard will be used for Voltari’s U.S.-based customers enabling compliance with regulatory requirements such as the Jones Act. The project will include building upgrades, new construction, manufacturing equipment, research and development equipment, and other specialized assets including a machine-learning AI lab that will rapidly advance their USV product development to meet surging demand in defense, USV and commercial marine markets in the United States.