The overall objective of the ProZero project is to overcome barriers and challenges connected to introducing carbon fibre boats on the fast boats market for professional use. The market has remained unchanged for decades and the introduction of a range of lightweight boats made out of carbon fiber would have a series of positive economic and environmental outcomes.
Tuco Marine Group ApS is pursuing a major market opportunity by developing and commercializing carbon fibre boats for professional use. More specifically, Tuco is targeting 3 categories of boats: i) Fast Rescue Boats (FRB), ii) Daughter Crafts (DC - boats used for transport between mother ships and oilrigs or windmill parks), and iii) Work Boats (WB) designed with a deck for different work purposes. The plan of the project are:
1. Design and develop moulds and tools for the scalable and cost-effective production of carbon fibre boats.
2. Showcase carbon based boats in operational use.
3. Develop the designs for a product range to complete the offering. The result will be a complete series of boats which can be built to order on the same platform, and thus without additional fix costs for each order.
4. Develop and implement a design portal, enabling customers to get access to the designs and drawings.
Although carbon has been successfully deployed in other vessel types, such as fast ferries, recreation and high-end racing yachts, the usage of carbon remains unproved in the market of fast boats for professional use. The commercial shipping industry is very conservative and it is thus necessary to demonstrate the benefits of carbon fibre in the targeted market before large-scale commercialization.
