Mumbai police put Sealegs on patrol

Sealegs CEO David McKee Wright believes the deal opens the door for further sales into government departments in India.

“I’d definitely call it the thin edge of the wedge for us.”

The Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, India, has bought four D-Tube all-aluminium amphibious marine craft through Sealegs’ appointed re-seller New Wave (India) Private Ltd.

The craft will be used to patrol Mumbai’s waterways.

McKee Wright says there is a ‘massive opportunity’ for his company to provide amphibious craft into India.

Until now, police craft patrolling the waters have had to be on the water all the time to be effective.

“With Sealegs, they can be based on land,” says McKee Wright.

“When the police see any activity that they wish to investigate, they can just drive off the land.”

The four craft will be delivered to the Mumbai Commissioner of Police in September.

McKee Wright says the deal is worth in excess of half a million dollars.

He describes the deal in India as a potential ‘viral sale’.

“When we get one into a geographic market segment, the product often starts to sell by itself. Where one gets into the Mumbai police I would imagine one would get into the Ahmedabad police as well.”

Sealegs appointed New Wave Distributors as its re-seller in the Indian market in October last year.

At the time of the appointment, Sealegs described India as a new and emerging market for recreational boating, saying the market is poised for significant growth.

New Wave is one of the largest boat dealers in India. It has a history of partnering with market leaders right across the boating range from kayaks through to luxury yachts.

New Wave’s appointment was part of Sealegs’ ongoing international market development strategy.

Sealegs now has a network of distributors across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.

McKee Wright says Sealegs is still actively looking for more resellers globally.

This is the first sale that New Wave has brokered for Sealegs since its appointment.

NZTE provided assistance to Sealegs through its Growth Services Fund and a Market Development Grant.

Craig Armstrong, NZTE’s operations director with responsibility for manufacturing industries, says Sealegs used the Growth Services Fund to further develop its sales and marketing plan.

It also used the fund to develop intellectual property relating to the development of hydraulic legs for the boats.

Armstrong says the Market Development Grant helped Sealegs introduce its marine craft to the global marketplace.

Sealegs focused especially on market development in North America, south Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Armstrong says such assistance is still available through NZTE’s International Growth Fund as a part of a company’s overall growth strategy.
 
Established in 2002, Sealegs now employs over 50 people in Auckland.

Sealegs Corporation is a public company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange Main Board.  Sealegs Corporation owns 100 percent of Sealegs International which has its office in Albany, Auckland.  The Sealegs amphibious boats are built in Auckland’s North Shore.