Ocean Aero Grand Opening adding to the blue economy on the Coast

America’s newest headquarters for manufacturer of autonomous ocean drones is now officially open for business in Gulfport.

From San Diego all the way to South Mississippi, Ocean Aero is finally having their grand opening, bring their unmanned systems to our ever-thriving blue economy.

The 67,000 square foot facility is home to the world’s first and only autonomous underwater and surface vehicle called ‘the triton.’ It’s an unmanned system that is used for military defense, ocean research, and more. U.S. Navy Captain Oscar Rojas said, “So that dual-modality operating both on the surface and subsurface provides many options for the end user on how to employ it.”

“Well, this is one of the first in the entire country to do this, the first in the entire world, and when you have other people to come in and say ‘what are you doing down there?’ and then to see their reaction, it truly is incredible. National security, this is incredible innovation, and we’re capitalizing on that innovation right here in Gulfport, Mississippi.”

Many believe South Mississippi has the potential to become the next Silicon Valley. Port of Gulfport Director John Nass said, “It’s so exciting and so gratifying and Ocean Aero has been such great partners throughout this whole process, but most importantly we’re adding great jobs right here to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

Governor Tate Reeves said, “We’re seeing a large number of companies that are looking to locate here and it’s mainly because of our workforce. We showed during COVID that Mississippi is open for business and because of that, we’re seeing record capital investments the likes of which we haven’t seen, ever really.”

Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes said, “This is the first of many companies that we believe are coming to this community for the blue economy to make the most of that. The access to the water, the quality of life, the cost of living, and the trainable workforce for groups like Ocean Aero that have moved here from the West Coast.”

Now being at the forefront of Mississippi’s blue economy, Ocean Aero’s CEO Kevin Decker says they are up for the challenge. “It comes with a lot of responsibility. We have to keep a lot of people employed; we have to keep all these exports happening. We are now an international exporter from Gulfport, Mississippi. We have these boats in the Middle East. We have them in Asia, all across America, we have a responsibility to keep that going and we will.”