Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NYSE-A:OPTT) CEO Philipp Stratmann talked with Proactive about the company’s decision to extend its agreement with the Unique Group in the United Arab Emirates, underlining strong growth in both the defense and commercial sectors across the region.
Stratmann highlighted that demand for autonomous maritime systems, such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and monitoring buoys, is continuing to rise, particularly in the Middle East.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Philipp Stratmann. He is the CEO of Ocean Power Technologies. And Philipp, it's great to see you again. How are you?
Philipp Stratmann: Doing well, good to be on, as always.
Well, big news out of the company today. Talk to me about extending the agreement you have with the Unique Group, which is out of the United Arab Emirates. Obviously, it's going very well over there and significant. That really speaks into the defense and security side of the company.
Yeah, absolutely. I think we're very excited about where work has gone on the defense and security side for us. But equally, we're really excited about where this continues the traction for us on the commercial sector. You open the newspapers nowadays and you can't really escape defense and security, and we're really proud to continue to supply into that market.
But in the meantime, the demand for autonomous systems in the commercial sector, particularly in the Middle East, just keeps on increasing. We're really excited about continuing to build our growth on both sides of those sectors.
So what do you think it is about your systems that fits so well into that category?
I think when you're looking at our USVs in particular, it is the high utility, high adaptability that they bring to market. Whether you are needing to do survey work, doing inspections around oil and gas infrastructure, looking at pipeline security, port efforts, or launching aerial drones—it’s just a really, really high utility factor. Essentially, the pickup truck of USVs that we bring into the market.
And that really helps our customers save time, save money, and save on manpower. That’s what we’re seeing is driving that increase in demand.
Are you finding that when you're talking to these customers, they want not just one item that you have, but also add-ons to make a complete system?
Yeah. I think the adaptability of our system and the way they work together—when you're combining the buoys with the vehicles—is really one of the big differentiators we bring to our customers. You can have buoys out there monitoring your offshore energy production or fields or providing safety and security over long periods of time. Then, in times of need or when more granular, detailed data is required, you send the USVs out to do that detailed inspection in areas that the buoys have identified as needing further intervention. I think it’s that combination that really differentiates OPT from other players in the industry.
I noticed in the news release you also talk about creating a hub in the UAE for repairs, maintenance, overhauls—that kind of stuff—to get the units back to customers much quicker.
Yeah. It’s an area of really growing importance for OPT. We’ve been active there for well over 15 months now, and in that period, I’ve just seen a material increase in demand. We're shipping additional systems over there now. Alongside our commercial partnerships, we’re continuing to grow our defense partnerships in the country and the broader region.
We’re looking forward to being able to supply our customers on a much quicker turnaround by having assets pre-staged in the region and, through our partners, being able to maintain them, quickly turn them around, and provide services.
And you're going to get boots on the ground there as well. In fact, you’re heading over there very soon.
Yeah, I’ll be back over there in a very short period of time. We’re continuing to work with our local partners and looking to expand our footprint over there. We're very excited about what the UAE specifically and the Gulf region in general offers in terms of bringing more systems into the market.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style