New Zealand-based Naiad Design (part of the Whiskey Project Group) is renowned globally for its, usually, aluminium-hulled rigid inflatable boats that are used for patrol, rescue, assault, tourist and pilotage, among other operations. Aldebaran has been delivered to a Central American country as a pilot boat. The 11.3-metre RIB is outboard powered and fitted with everything needed for comfort, safety, speed and versatility.
"The Whiskey Project mission centres around providing fit-for-purpose watercraft for specialist users," Ryan Carmichael, Co-Founder and Managing Director for Business Development and Strategic Growth at the Whiskey Project Group (TWPG), told Baird Maritime. "This requires us to collaborate closely with our clients to know exactly what they need from their vessel, and allows our team to tailor the solution to their needs. Aldebaran is no exception to this process."
Carmichael added that the project also marked the re-emergence of the Naiad RIB pilot boats, which are known for being fast, nimble and light, have excellent control at all speeds, are designed for ease of embarkation and disembarkation, and feature a hull design for fast and easy parting from a ship's side. The innovative design presents an attractive, low maintenance alloy craft that is optimised for marine pilotage, pairing performance with a smooth ride, a spacious cabin, excellent visibility, rough water readiness, and consideration of crew comfort.
"It was a great project to work on, and was only challenged by the remote end user location in Guatemala, and the associated language barrier. We successfully navigated this and were presented with the user's ambitious requirements for a systems-rich vessel with generator, air conditioning, shock-mitigated seating, and a head, all wrapped into an 11.3-metre RIB hull."
Aldebaran operates in Guatemala and represents what Carmichael said is a truly modern pilot boat through which TWPG combined a rugged vessel with crew comfort and operator-focused features.
"We will continue to pursue more opportunities to re-launch the Naiad pilot boats across the regions, but we will look to engage local agents to support us in harder-to-reach locations!"
TWPG's growth over the previous year was characterised by an uplift in opportunities secured across the commercial workboat sector, particularly in the areas of pilotage, tourism, and utility.
"We're excited about the opportunities ahead in these new areas of interest for our high-performance Naiad RIBs and specialist commercial craft ranges," Carmichael told Baird Maritime.
He added that while materials and labour costs increases have been felt across TWPG, the group's value proposition are long-standing, high-quality design and workmanship, offering commercial operators greater availability and reliability over an extended vessel life.
"We find that with increasing focus on higher technology integration, human safety, automation, and lower emissions, regulations are often playing catch-up to industry demands. This is particularly notable working across multiple defence and government jurisdictions across the globe, where there are very few common standards. We seek to be an industry leader in this space, providing high-performance watercraft that places the operator at the centre of the design process."
Regarding the local workboat industry in Naiad's home country of New Zealand, Carmichael remarked that the industry remains steady, though progress has dropped off in some areas of the market.
"We will continue to support our key agency partners in the rescue and government services sectors, while exploring opportunities to expand our exports from NZ."