REGENT's pathway to seaglider certification
- Seagliders will ensure the highest safety standards
- Seagliders will be regulated as maritime vessels, which means they will comply with national and international laws and robust maritime safety standards.
- Like other regulated vehicles, seagliders will undergo vigorous and continual evaluation and inspection.
As REGENT develops the world’s first all-electric seaglider, safety is our number one priority.
Earning the trust of everyone who steps aboard a seaglider underpins everything we do, from design to operations to the passenger experience. We leverage top expertise and experience across a wide range of industries, including maritime, aviation, automotive, and space. Borrowing from these and other industries, we have implemented redundant systems that serve as fail-safes in case of emergencies as well as built out a rigorous testing regimen for all aspects of seaglider design and operation to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, and craft.
But don’t just take our word for it.
We are undertaking a robust external certification process that builds on established guidelines and follows existing pathways in the U.S. and in markets around the world. These parallel processes ensure the vessel complies with national and international laws and safety standards.
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Established guidelines
Seagliders are all-electric hydrofoiling wing-in-ground (WIG) craft, which means they always operate in ground effect, a phenomenon that occurs within one wingspan of the surface of the water and provides significant aerodynamic efficiency. Global guidance for vessels operating in the ground effect already exists: In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which develops and maintains regulations for international shipping, established guidelines for WIG craft that provide safety recommendations and assessments.
The IMO worked with another United Nations agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which coordinates principles for international air navigation, to define three types of WIG vehicles. Type A WIG craft always operate within ground effect, while Type B and Type C can climb out of ground effect, within 500 feet (150 meters), and above 500 feet (150 meters), respectively.
REGENT seagliders are Type A WIG craft, since they always stay in ground effect, which for the 12-passenger Viceroy seaglider is about 30 feet (10 meters) above the surface of the water. Highly automated controls and sensors on seagliders simplify operations and keep the vessels within ground effect so that captains only need to navigate fast or slow, right or left, enhancing the vessel’s safety.
As Type A WIG craft, seagliders are maritime vessels and are regulated by maritime authorities.
Path to certification in the U.S.
Under U.S. law, wing-in-ground craft are defined as maritime small passenger vessels and regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard. In the 2024 reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Congress created the framework for a collaborative seaglider maritime certification process led by the U.S. Coast Guard, with technical support from the FAA.
There are four key steps on the pathway to seaglider certification:
- Design: The Design Basis Agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard establishes what the novel vessel’s design must do to show an equivalent level of safety compared to already-certified vessels.
- Review: The U.S. Coast Guard reviews the vessel’s plans to verify that it was designed according to regulations and the Design Basis Agreement.
- Inspection: The U.S. Coast Guard inspects the vehicle during construction to ensure it is built according to the approved plans and evaluates the vessel’s performance during testing, with a focus on safety.
- Certification: Finally, REGENT works with local operators on crew training and local requirements, and then the operator receives a “Certificate of Inspection,” which allows for commercial passenger operations.
After the initial certification, the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to conduct regular inspections of the vessel and its operations.
Path to certification in non-U.S. markets
Outside the U.S., a similar, parallel process occurs. Many countries’ regulatory bodies involve classification societies, independent third-party entities that support regulators to certify vessels, in this process. REGENT is working with an internationally recognized classification society, Lloyd’s Register, to support this effort. This follows a comprehensive analysis of our seagliders, known as an 'Approval in Principle', by Bureau Veritas in 2022 – the first Approval in Principle for WIG vessels.
- Design: REGENT completes a certification plan with the local regulatory authority to document the design standards and approaches to meet or exceed an equivalent level of safety as already-certified vessels.
- Review: Lloyd’s Register reviews the design to ensure compliance with the classification society’s Risk Based Certification process.
- Inspection: Lloyd’s Register undertakes construction inspections and observes sea trials and issues a “WIG Safety Certificate” upon verifying that the vessel meets their stringent criteria.
- Certification: Upon receiving a copy of the WIG Safety Certificate, the regulatory authority will then review the information and data supplied with the WIG Safety Certificate plus additional information as required by the flag state for the issuance of the ‘Permit to Operate’.
The regulator and the classification society oversee continual inspections of the vessel and its operations.
REGENT is partnering with the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyd’s Register to advance these two pathways and ensure safety and certification when seagliders enter into service in coastal markets around the world.