Cellula Robotics Ltd. and Industrias FERRI S.A. have formed Nautical Reach Systems Ltd., an East Coast Canadian joint venture that will design and manufacture marine motion, lift and handling systems for autonomous maritime operations

 The new company's portfolio will cover smart launch and recovery systems along with complex payload handling across uncrewed surface and underwater vehicles.

The venture pairs FERRI's six decades of naval deck machinery experience with Cellula's 25 years of subsea engineering. Burnaby, B.C.-based Cellula develops long-endurance autonomous underwater vehicles, while FERRI, founded in Spain in 1964, builds cranes, winches, launch and recovery systems and davits for international navies.

"This partnership is designed to help shape the future of marine operations by enabling smart, autonomous decision-making at the edge," said Neil Manning, CEO of Cellula Robotics. "Nautical Reach Systems gives customers one engineering team that understands what is happening below the surface and on deck."

Autonomous underwater and surface vehicles have historically been designed as separate systems, one focused on what happens below the waterline and the other on deck-level handling. 

In an interview with Vanguard, Manning said that divide is closing as the vehicles are increasingly expected to operate together with minimal human oversight in denied-communications or harsh environments, including the Arctic.

"There was a divergence between underwater vehicles and surface vehicles, but if you fast-forward five years, they have to work together relatively on their own at the edge," Manning said. 

He added that existing handling systems still require humans in the loop and remain fairly primitive, which keeps attrition rates, and costs, higher than the sector needs for autonomy to gain broader acceptance.

Nautical Reach Systems will be based on Canada's East Coast, a deliberate choice to orient the venture toward the Atlantic and NATO markets rather than the Pacific, where Cellula is already headquartered. 

Manning said the companies opted against a second manufacturing footprint in British Columbia in favour of a region he described as having a larger receptive audience for the technology.

FERRI will make a multi-million-dollar investment in Canada through the joint venture, supporting new skilled jobs and intellectual property development domestically. Cellula will contribute its intellectual property in autonomous handling solutions. 

The companies noted FERRI's existing compliance track record with NATO and NATO-partner navies as an asset for the venture's export prospects.

"FERRI has delivered advanced marine deck machinery and complex load-handling solutions for more than 60 years," said Patricio Fernández, CEO of FERRI. "With experience supplying the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard, we are committed to expanding our Canadian partnerships."

Manning told Vanguard the appeal of FERRI extends beyond its engineering pedigree to its design philosophy for handling equipment that must work on both crewed and autonomous vessels. He also pointed to Canada's expanded trade agreement with Spain, signed in December, as a potential added benefit for a venture built partly around European market access.

Manning framed the partnership within a broader shift in naval capability planning: he does not expect autonomous systems to fully replace crewed vessels within his career, but said [unclear which navy or program] is already building six autonomous multipurpose platform vessels, with other nations expected to follow. He said the model allows a crewed vessel to leave a surface vehicle and multiple subsea vehicles on station for patrol and monitoring while it moves on to tasks that genuinely require a crew, particularly relevant for Arctic mobilization.

"It's a complementary force multiplier to crewed ships," Manning said, adding that as confidence in the technology builds, fewer tasks will require a crewed vessel at all.