U.S. Marines Trial Regent’s Seaglider for Rescue Missions

Regent Craft and the U.S. Marine Corps have completed operational trials to demonstrate how the company’s seaglider can be used for rescue missions. The electric-powered vessel was deployed for medical and casualty evacuation exercises, the Rhode Island-based start-up announced on November 16.

Three missions were successfully completed during the sea trials: boarding a non-ambulatory patient on a litter from a dockside, a beach extraction of an injured patient from the shore, and an open-water life raft rescue. According to Regent Craft, the exercises, which are part of a $15 million contract from the Marines, proved the vessel’s ability to approach, secure, and recover survivors in challenging sea conditions.

Regent Craft is developing the Viceroy seaglider for multiple missions that could include commercial services with 12 passengers traveling up to 160 nm, operating in three modes: floating on its hull, rising above the water’s surface on hydrofoils, and flying in ground effect about 30 feet off the water’s surface. The initial version of the vessel is electric-powered, but it has plans for a hybrid-electric option that would have a longer range of up to 1,400 nm, and both types would have speeds of up to 160 knots.

In July, Regent Craft formed a new defense division to advance military applications for the Viceroy. The company also has plans for a larger 100-passenger vessel called the Monarch. It has reported provisional Viceroy orders from several commercial operators, including Southern Airways Express, UrbanLink, UME Shipping (which has plans for cargo trips in the Red Sea), Ocean flyer in New Zealand, and Croatian ferry operator Split Express.

During testing in October, the Viceroy prototype was slightly damaged in an incident in Narragansett Bay in which its wing made contact with the water. In a statement explaining the accident, the company said: “The two captains onboard and the Regent operations team followed all safety procedures, and no one was injured. The vessel’s safety protection systems functioned as designed to protect the crew. The Regent team safely brought the prototype back to our testing facility.”