Bluewater Engineering Limited (BWE), the inventor of SKYTUG®, has recently been awarded a grant from the Transport Research and Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme, financed by the UK Department for Transport (DfT). The TRIG programme aims to encourage engineers and other innovators to develop ‘blue sky’ research into real world solutions to address some of transport’s most pressing issues, such as decarbonisation.
“We’re delighted to have been awarded TRIG funding,” said James McGarley, BWE’s Managing Director. “We are looking forward to achieving small-scale proof-of-concept of our patented kite handling system, which is fundamental to SKYTUG’s technology.”
ICE’s important contribution to the development of SKYTUG has been to design and tank test the catamaran hull, fitted with controllable daggerboard type hydrofoils to counteract the pulling force from the kites and keep the tug and thus the towed ship going in the desired direction.