Knight & Carver Acquired by Hybrid Firm
Arc Light Acquisition Adds Capabilities to Marine Compnay's Existing Services.
San Diego marine hybrid systems pioneer Arc Lite Power, LLC has signed an agreement to purchase National City shipyard Knight & Carver Maritime, the companies announced today. The $30 million total investment will expand the capabilities of the combined companies to serve the emerging “green marine” market. Knight & Carver, a leading provider of marine construction and maintenance services since 1971, will continue its traditional offerings in addition to adding the operations of the world’s first global hybrid superyacht conversion and certification center. An interim operating agreement will allow combined operations to begin immediately.
“The future has arrived for hybrid marine power,” said Sampson A. Brown, Knight & Carver’s Chairman of the Board. “We have reached the point where ‘going green’ isn’t simply a fad, it’s now a certifiably smarter, more efficient and more cost-effective way to operate a vessel.” Michael O’Leary, Knight & Carver Maritime President/CEO added “Knight & Carver’s team couldn’t be more delighted with the new opportunities presented by the acquisition; we look forward to providing this cutting-edge technology along with an aggressive pricing strategy to our clients.” Arc Lite Power and its affiliated company, EnergyTech Marine, have captured a leading position in hybrid marine propulsion with the Power Core® system, which obsoletes and replaces the standard marine diesel engines, generator sets and lead-acid battery banks found in the vast majority of vessels. The firm’s technology has received industry honors as this current year’s “Environmental Innovation Product of the Year” at the prestigious IBEX (International Boatbuilders’ Exposition) held in Louisville, Kentucky.
Arc Lite’s advanced systems will be manufactured in the Knight & Carver indoor 100,000 square foot bayside facility. “We would like to reverse the trend of companies like ours choosing to build overseas” said Jack McCoy, CEO of Arc Lite Power and EnergyTech Marine. “We intend to add hundreds of new jobs for this enterprise right here in America, building everything from our half-million (mega) watt-hour Arc Lite lithium-ion propulsion batteries to our line of 83- foot EnergyTech full hybrid sailing yachts.” EnergyTech Marine designed and built the world’s first full-hybrid superyacht known as the 83 HD-X. The 83-ft vessel launched at the Knight & Carver docks several years ago, and has since undergone sea trials, testing an array of hybrid systems on San Diego Bay.
Martin Turock, San Diego Clean Tech environmentalist and former GE international division manager, now COO of Arc Lite Power, explained, “We chose San Diego Bay in California not because of the ease of environmental compliance or the lowest taxes, but because of the amazing availability of workers accomplished in everything from master carpentry to aerospace electronics skills to build world-class luxury vessels along with our high-tech hybrid command and control systems. The perfect synergy of this acquisition will enable both Arc Lite Power and Knight & Carver to immediately scale-up to fulfill the demand for hybrid propulsion systems in their combined customer pipelines.”
