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mission, including hydrography. The partnership between Murphy?s 5G International and Abu Dhabi-based Al Seer Marine is not unlike many other budding business relationships, a matter of coincidence, timing and op- portunity. For Murphy it is a chance to see his lifelong ambi- tion come to life again on the water, with a motivated partner that has the  nancial and technical wherewithal. ?They have a real need to protect vital coastal assets here; these unmanned surface vessels are now coming into their own,  nally,? said Murphy. In Al Seer Marine Murphy?s 5G has a partner with broad am- bitions to not simply produce a prototype for display, but with the aim to develop, design and mass produce large number of USVs to serve local military and globally security needs. ?Our primary business is super yacht management, operations, re- pair and re t,? said Russel Bartlett, Operations Manager, Al Seer Marine. ?It is our core business and always has been.? Making the leap from Superyacht specialist to USV manu-facturer might seem a large chasm to bridge, but not in the United Arab Emirates, where business is booming on many fronts and there is a palpable push for growth and diversity across many industries, as the government invites and inspires innovation with an eye towards the future when one day energy production is not the primary driver of the country?s economy. Al Seer Marine is a small local company with an enviable core of talent and technical expertise, and some big ambitions. ?About seven years ago we were approached to do a joint venture with a company for the exact same style of project and vessel; and it never went anywhere.? Fast forward to the Spring of 2012, when Bartlett received a call from top man- agement to essentially ask ?can we do it;? meaning could the company as currently situated design, build and deliver a USV to serve the home military market. ?I told them that technically we can design and build them, but we couldn?t do the integration and telemetry,? Bartlett said. ?So he said ?alright,  nd me a company who can.?? Enter 5G. ?We did our research and came up with 5G Marine, based on their history building unmanned vessels,? Bartlett said. And in keeping with trends today in the UAE, when things start to move, they tend to evolve quickly. What started in the summer of 2012 as an eight-month contract to design and deliver one boat, has been recently extended to a 14-month contract to design and deliver three boats. But to be perfectly clear, this is not a long-term development plan. From Day one, the goal Marine Technology Reporter 29www.seadiscovery.com MTR #4 (18-33).indd 29MTR #4 (18-33).indd 295/8/2013 9:39:28 AM5/8/2013 9:39:28 AM