ASV Expands into South America
Autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) manufacturer ASV Global announced its expansion into the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro with the formation of ASV Global do Brasil LTDA to offer sales, customer support and operational services in the region.
With its latest expansion, ASV Global, which already operates from Portsmouth, U.K. and Louisiana, U.S., said it intends to bring the latest in ASV technology to the emerging South American market by working alongside local universities and authorities.
“There are lots of opportunities in Brazil and South America for autonomous systems to offer cost savings and operational efficiencies in applications such as bathymetric survey, security, oil and gas and marine science,” said Dan Hook, Managing Director of ASV.
The new venture is being led by COPPE postgraduate and experienced naval architect Rafael Coelho, who spent five years at ASV’s U.K. headquarters as head of design. Under Coelho’s leadership the ASV design team delivered more than 80 ASVs for a variety of roles in commercial, defense and security environments. Coelho will retain his role as ASV design lead.
Fabio Nascimento from COPPE-UFRJ said, “The opening of a Brazilian branch of one of the major autonomous vehicle manufacturers is very important to the local market, the research institutions and our continental partners. This opens up great possibilities of utilizing this technology and offers customized design solutions for the needs of our industry and scientific community.”