Liberty-class autonomous ship by Blue Water Autonomy: status and timeline

Liberty-class autonomous ship

Give the Navy many long-range ships fast and cheaply by removing the crew and building on a proven hull in commercial yards, at 10 to 20 ships a year once the first is delivered.

ProtoStage 2 of 5

First hull under construction at Conrad Shipyard since March 2026; completion targeted for late 2026.

Updated Aug 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · First Liberty-class ship completed for the Navy

Company incorporatedApr 2024Complete.
Out of stealth with $14M seedApr 2025Complete.
$50M Series A led by GV26 Aug 2025Complete.
Liberty class unveiled11 Feb 2026Complete.
Construction starts at Conrad ShipyardMar 2026Complete.
First Liberty-class ship completed for the NavyTarget Q4 2026Current milestone.
Serial production, 10–20 ships a yearNot yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

Q4 2026First Liberty-class ship completed for the Navy (next)
Q4 2026First Liberty-class ship completed at Conrad Shipyard

Current obstacles

First hull on scheduleHull modules were being assembled at Conrad in mid-2026; completion is targeted for later in 2026.
No program of record award yetMissed the first tranche of the Navy's medium uncrewed ship competition; later tranches remain open.

Physics limits

Nobody aboard to fix thingsShips at sea suffer constant small failures; without crew each one must be absorbed by redundancy or handled remotely, which adds weight, cost and complexity to every system.
Thin links over open oceanFar from shore, satellite links are limited and can be jammed, so the ship must make most decisions on board rather than be steered remotely.

How it works

4 parts

Axe Bow hull

A bow that cuts through waves

A near-vertical bow slices through waves instead of riding over them, keeping the ship steadier; licensed from Damen.

Container power plant

Engines as swappable boxes

Engines sit in 20-ft containers wired as a microgrid, so the ship keeps power and propulsion if one fails.

Fault management

Software instead of engineers

Automated control detects and works around machinery faults with limited human input, the job a crew's engineers would do.

Payload deck

Missions in containers

The aft deck takes four 40-ft containers, so missiles, sensors or cargo can be swapped as modules.

Spec sheet

Spec	Liberty-class autonomous ship
Length	190 ft^R (reported)
Range	Over 10,000 nautical miles^R (reported)
Payload	Over 150 metric tons^R (reported)
Operation without crew	60–90 days^R (reported)
Aft deck	Four 40-ft containers^R (reported)
Crew	None^R (reported)
Target build rate	10–20 ships a year^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

3 updates

About Blue Water Autonomy

The team behind Liberty-class autonomous ship

Blue Water Autonomy

Crewless ocean-going ships

Boston startup, founded in 2024, building a 190-foot crewless steel ship for months-long Navy missions, designed so existing US shipyards can build it in series.

Liberty class: 190 ft steel ship, 10,000+ nm range, 150+ t payload, on a licensed Damen hull.
First hull under construction at Conrad Shipyard, Louisiana since March 2026; due later in 2026.
Raised $64M (seed plus GV-led $50M Series A, 2025); aims for 10–20 ships a year after hull 1.

Company profile →

Founded: 20242 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Staff: ~60Jan 2026
Raised: $64M2 rounds
Last round: Series A · $50MAug 2025
Works in: ManufacturingShipbuildingRobotics
Coverage: 1 program · 3 updateslatest 1 Aug 2026checked 11 Oct
Lead investors: GV
Customers: Naval Oceanographic Office
Investors: GV
Suppliers: Damen ShipyardsConrad Shipyard
People: Rylan HamiltonCo-founder and CEOAustin GrayCo-founder and Chief Strategy Officer

Spec

Liberty-class autonomous ship

Length

190 ft^R (reported)

Range

Over 10,000 nautical miles^R (reported)

Payload

Over 150 metric tons^R (reported)

Operation without crew

60–90 days^R (reported)

Aft deck

Four 40-ft containers^R (reported)

Crew

None^R (reported)

Target build rate

10–20 ships a year^R (reported)

Liberty-class autonomous ship

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

A bow that cuts through waves

Engines as swappable boxes

Software instead of engineers

Missions in containers

Spec sheet

Update log

Aug 2026

Wed 11 Feb

Tue 26 Aug 2025

About Blue Water Autonomy

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

A bow that cuts through waves

Engines as swappable boxes

Software instead of engineers

Missions in containers

Spec sheet

Update log

Aug 2026

Wed 11 Feb

Tue 26 Aug 2025

About Blue Water Autonomy