By Lynn Fitzpatrick

(February 8, 2010, Honolulu, HI) - Morrelli & Melvin’s client, Harbor Wing Technologies, Inc., is responding to regional, national and international commercial and military interests by accelerating the construction of a full-scaled version of its autonomous unmanned surface vessel (AUSV).

Harbor Wing Technologies world class technical team, including Morrelli & Melvin, made history when its 1/3-scale prototype AUSV equipped with a Wingsail™ hard airfoil became the first sailing vessel to perform every function of a manned sailboat without any human intervention during rigorous sea trials in June of 2007. The same multihull design was recognized as the most innovative and timely product in the Communications, Disaster Preparedness and Maritime categories at the Security Network’s 6th Annual Security Summit. The low cost Harbor Wing solution is gaining earned attention from Military Commanders who have an ever-pressing need for ocean surveillance information.

In another recent development, the Department of State determined that the company’s Wingsail™ hard airfoil with manual guidance system and components are not subject to the licensing jurisdiction of the Department of State. Harbor Wing Technologies will be able to export its products and technology to all countries except for those on a select Department of State exclusion list. Harbor Wing’s environmentally friendly system is ready for production and management has identified immediate market opportunities for the exportable manual WingSail version.

Harbor Wing Technologies’ robotically controlled, wind driven vessel is outfitted with electronic sensors and is capable of operating independently and scanning large areas of ocean for other surface or submarine vessels. It can transmit what it sees and hears via radio or satellite communication links to ship or shore based control stations. Outfitted with surface radar, cameras, sonar, and other electronic sensors, the ASUV is a low cost, persistent long-range and mission duration Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance “ISR” platform.

By utilizing the wind as well as state of the art electrical storage and energy scavenging technologies the AUSV will be able to patrol or loiter about fixed locations for weeks, even months, in some environments. The stable platform can patrol protected waters, acting as policing agencies’ eyes and ears to detect, deter, and document illegal activity. The data collected can be sent in real time to a control station operator.

“We initially introduced our AUSV to the US Coast Guard and NOAA as a cost effective and green means of patrolling the Hawaii Marine National Monument. As we moved forward we recognized its suitability for open sea applications such as open water exploration and mapping, oil platform security and surveillance, and ocean and environmental survey and tracking. Harbor Wing’s AUSV also represents a cost effective means of curtailing and combating the increasing incidents of illegal fishing activity and piracy in Somalia and other parts of the world. Our robots provide a solution in which information can be collected and justice can be served without the risk of losing lives,” said Mark Ott, Co-founder, Executive Vice President and Project Manger of Harbor Wing Technologies, Inc.

Said Pete Melvin, "By integrating these sophisticated platform, wing sail, computer and communications designs the team has developed a vessel that will catapult Morrelli & Melvin's hull designs into research and military markets that we never anticipated when we started working on the protype only a couple of years ago."