Kraken Receives Financial Contribution From the Government of Canada

ST. JOHN'S, NL--(Marketwired - February 08, 2016) -  Kraken Sonar Inc. (Kraken) (TSX VENTURE: PNG) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kraken Sonar Systems Inc. will receive a non-refundable financial contribution of up to $495,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).

In addition to technical and business advisory services provided by NRC-IRAP, the funding is being used to develop the Kraken Active Towed Fish (KATFISH) for high speed, high resolution seabed mapping. The system will enable real-time seabed imagery, bathymetry and advanced 3D digital terrain models of the seabed. KATFISH will enable seabed mapping missions optimized for both manned and unmanned surface vessels.

Karl Kenny, Kraken's President and CEO, said, "We are very grateful for the continued support from NRC-IRAP. Their assistance enables us to continue to innovate our seabed survey solutions. We've stated on many occasions that cost effective and high resolution seabed mapping is mission-critical for many military and commercial applications. Placing a survey sensor -- such as Kraken's Miniature Synthetic Aperture Sonar -- closer to the seafloor will result in the acquisition of much higher resolution data. When the sensor is integrated onto a high speed, intelligently stabilized towed platform such as KATFISH, better quality data is acquired at a faster rate, thus improving efficiency and lowering both operational and data acquisition costs. In fact, we believe that KATFISH provides the highest resolution seabed pixels at the lowest cost compared to any other competing survey sonar platform."

The business case for the KATFISH system involves two clearly identified and distinct markets: commercial seabed survey and underwater defence.

KATFISH TARGETING THE COMMERCIAL SEABED SURVEY MARKET
In the commercial seabed survey market the offshore oil and gas production industry has increased the need for surveys of existing infrastructure (such as pipelines and subsea installations). Presently, this process is completed with slow moving (1-2 knots) Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles (ROV), or passively stable sonar systems at medium (3-4 knots) speeds. KATFISH operates at 8 knots.

Offshore exploration and production companies require comprehensive, high-resolution surveys to ensure the integrity of these pipelines, as well as the engineering and development of underwater facilities. The results of these surveys must show detailed bottom topography, surface features such as boulders, outcrops, debris, pockmarks, drag marks, and gas vents, as well as sub-bottom features such as faults, shallow gas pockets and sediment structure.