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Xocean secures €115 million investment to accelerate growth of its ocean data services platform

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Xocean, a provider of ocean data to the offshore energy and civil hydrography sectors, has closed a €115 million fundraise that will help support its ongoing growth across the company’s expanding global footprint.

The company partnered with S2G Ventures to structure the round, which was funded by S2G, Climate Investment, Morgan Stanley’s 1GT fund, and an affiliate of the Crown Family’s CC Industries, collectively referred to as “the investor consortium”.

This financing will support Xocean in accelerating the growth of its platform servicing the offshore energy and civil hydrography sectors. It will also help enable the company’s geographic expansion and product innovation efforts to meet the rapidly growing demand for high-quality data solutions across the blue economy. [Read more…] about Xocean secures €115 million investment to accelerate growth of its ocean data services platform

Nauticus Robotics and Leidos execute additional $2.1 million contract extension

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Nauticus Robotics, a developer of autonomous robots using artificial intelligence for data collection and intervention services for the ocean industries, has been awarded an additional $2.1 million under its current contract with Leidos, a science and technology company.

The additional funding augments the earlier award and this program has received $16.6 million in funding from Leidos since 2022. The technology developed is expected to underpin future, economically material opportunities. [Read more…] about Nauticus Robotics and Leidos execute additional $2.1 million contract extension

Sailing seas of data: Autonomous Saildrone vessel to study Earth’s oceans, weather and marine life

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A startup company called Saildrone says its uncrewed vehicles are helping to study Earth’s weather, marine life, the ocean floor and much more.

The startup’s nautical data collection technology has tracked hurricanes up close in the North Atlantic, discovered a 3,200-foot underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean and begun to help map the entirety of the world’s ocean floor.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company develops autonomous uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) that carry a wide range of sensors. [Read more…] about Sailing seas of data: Autonomous Saildrone vessel to study Earth’s oceans, weather and marine life

Nauticus Robotics launch new generation of its Aquanauts

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Nauticus Robotics, a developer of autonomous robots using artificial intelligence for data collection and intervention services for the ocean industries, has launched the first of three second-generation Aquanauts, dubbed the “Mark 2” (MK2).

The Aquanauts will now start commissioning exercises. Following commissioning, Nauticus expects to send the initial Aquanaut MK2 units to the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico in the coming months to support customer initiatives in those regions.

The Aquanaut MK2 is a fully electric, untethered and autonomous subsea robot that is controlled through acoustic communication networking and underpinned by Nauticus’ proprietary software suite, toolKITT. The artificial intelligence-based software suite allows for robotic controls, user interfaces, sensor integration, simulation, data analysis, and communication frameworks purpose-built to enable subsea work. [Read more…] about Nauticus Robotics launch new generation of its Aquanauts

4Ocean robot cleans up Florida beach as part of startup’s mission to clean up the world’s oceans

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A robot built by 4Ocean is cleaning up Florida beach as part of the startup company’s mission to clean up the entire world’s oceans.

An ambitious mission for sure, and one for which the company admits “there is no playbook”, but 4Ocean has already collected 28 million pounds of trash from the plastic-polluted salty waters of the world and its program is just getting started.

The robot 4Ocean has supplied to Florida beach is called the BeBot, which collects things like cigarette butts, pieces of plastic and other trash, according to a report on the Fox Weather website. [Read more…] about 4Ocean robot cleans up Florida beach as part of startup’s mission to clean up the world’s oceans

Nauticus Robotics presents at United Nations’ sustainability event

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Nauticus Robotics, a developer of ocean robots, autonomy software, and services to the marine industries, today announced that founder and CEO Nicolaus Radford was scheduled to be speaking at an event on December 1, 2022, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The UN event is called “Energy Transition Industries: Solutions to Achieving SDG’s – How Renewable Energy Can Combat Inflation in Emerging Nations”.

The event will feature presentations from industry-leading companies helping to implement technologies and solutions towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals. [Read more…] about Nauticus Robotics presents at United Nations’ sustainability event

Blue Robotics wins award from Society of Underwater Technology

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The Society for Underwater Technology’s Gwyn Griffiths Award for Underwater Robotics has been won by Rustom (Rusty) Jehangir, founder and CEO of Blue Robotics, an ocean technology company based in Torrance, California.

Neil Bose, chair of SUT’s Underwater Robotics Panel, and vice president (research), Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador’s University, says: “The standard of entries for the SUT’s Gwyn Griffiths Award for Underwater Robotics was extremely competitive this year, and the nominees of high calibre, which challenged the judges to select this year’s winner.

“On behalf of the Panel, the judges and SUT, we would like to recognise the talent, innovation, and qualities of all the entrants working in underwater robotics.” [Read more…] about Blue Robotics wins award from Society of Underwater Technology

DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes

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DB Schenker, one of the world’s leading logistics providers, has revealed plans to operate an innovative zero-emission coastal container feeder in Norway. The fully electric vessel has a unique design, making it the first of its kind in the world.

Having just signed a pre-study agreement, DB Schenker and its co-operation partners – the furniture giant Ekornes and the vessel designer Naval Dynamics, along with Kongsberg and Massterly – have taken the first steps in an ambitious joint project to replace the traditional feeder vessels utilized along the stretch of the Norwegian coastline around Ikornnes and Ålesund.

The new autonomous and electric, short-sea container feeder leverages Naval Dynamics’ NDS AutoBarge 250 concept that was developed in partnership with Kongsberg and Massterly. [Read more…] about DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes

Ocean Aero partners with KAUST and Shelf Subsea to advance maritime research in Red Sea

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Ocean Aero, a manufacturer and service provider of ocean-going Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicles (AUSVs), has agreed a partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), one of Saudi Arabia’s preeminent centers of academia, research, and development, and Saudi Shelf Subsea, part of the Shelf Subsea Group of companies headquartered in Perth, Australia with extensive operations in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The trilateral partnership will center on novel maritime research in the Red Sea and has several core tenets:

  • applied research on tailored payloads for Saudi-specific applications with a number of the Kingdom’s maritime organizations;
  • exploration of advanced concept development utilizing existing and joint IP; and
  • continued execution of scientific services with a fleet of Ocean Aero’s TRITON AUSVs.

Kevin Decker, CEO of Ocean Aero, says: “We couldn’t be happier to work alongside the oceanographers, researchers, and marine scientists at KAUST. [Read more…] about Ocean Aero partners with KAUST and Shelf Subsea to advance maritime research in Red Sea

Saildrone develops ‘next generation ocean data products’ with Siemens Xcelerator as a Service

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Siemens Digital Industries Software says that Saildrone, a California-based company that designs, manufactures, and operates a fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), has adopted Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, including cloud-enabled Xcelerator as a Service solution, enabling it to innovate faster and more collaboratively across the entire organization without the burden of a traditional IT infrastructure. (See video below.)

Saildrone has adopted the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio for product design, engineering and manufacturing, including NX software for 3D product engineering and Teamcenter® X for product lifecycle management (PLM).

The interoperability offered by Siemens Xcelerator enables Saildrone to easily integrate mechanical and electronic design information. In addition to helping manage product engineering complexity, Saildrone has used Teamcenter X to improve data and collaboration between disciplines. [Read more…] about Saildrone develops ‘next generation ocean data products’ with Siemens Xcelerator as a Service