Blue Water picks Conrad Shipyard to build autonomous surface ships

September 24, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

Boston-based technology and shipbuilding company Blue Water Autonomy has entered into a production agreement with Conrad Shipyard for the production of autonomous surface ships.

The news comes just weeks after Blue Water secured $50 million in Series A funding, bringing the company to $61 million to date. This reflects the company’s continued momentum in building operationally ready, scalable unmanned ships.

Blue Water Autonomy lands $50M in funding to support unmanned vessel production

Industry

Under the agreement, Conrad will assemble Blue Water’s first class of autonomous ships. Conrad plans to use multiple facilities to take advantage of its advanced shipbuilding approach, including a highly automated panel line and welding techniques, allowing for parallel builds.

The partnership marks a major step forward in Blue Water’s plan to deploy autonomous surface vessels at fleet scale, it was highlighted. This milestone also reflects the company’s broader strategy to activate underutilized U.S. shipyard capacity, particularly small and mid-tier yards that can adapt quickly to new platforms.

“We’re designing for deployment, not just demonstration,” said Rylan Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Blue Water Autonomy.

“Conrad is a world-class shipbuilder with proven capability, and this partnership puts us in a position to deliver ships quickly, while demonstrating the expertise and scale of existing U.S. shipbuilding capacity.”

“Blue Water Autonomy’s design reflects the kind of forward-looking innovation that U.S. shipbuilders are ready to deliver,” stated Cecil Hernandez, President and CEO of Conrad Shipyard.