The ability to add automation to an existing marine vessel to make it autonomous is here today and is being proven by a Boston company. Sea Machines builds autonomous vessel software and systems for the marine industry. Founded in 2015, the company recently raised $15 million in a Series B round, making it total raised $27.5 million since 2017.

Founder and CEO Michael G. Johnson, a licensed marine engineer, recently took the time to answer via email some questions AI Trends poses to selected startups.

Describe your team, the key people

Sea Machines is led by a team of mariners, engineers, coders and autonomy scientists. The company today has a crew of 30 people based in Boston; Hamburg, Germany; and Esbjerg, Denmark. Sea Machines is also hiring for a variety of positions, which can be viewed at sea-machines.com/careers.

What business problem are you trying to solve?

The global maritime industry is responsible for billions in economic output and is a major driver of jobs and commerce. Despite the sector’s success and endurance, it faces significant challenges that can negatively impact operator safety, performance and profitability. Sea Machines is solving many of these challenges by developing technologies that are helping the marine industry transition into a new era of task-driven, computer-guided vessel operations.

How does your solution address the problem?

Autonomous systems solve for these challenges in several ways:

Autonomous grid and waypoint following capabilities relieve mariners from manually executing planned routes. Today’s autonomous systems uniquely execute with human-like behavior, intelligently factoring in environmental and sea conditions (including wave height, pitch, heave and roll); change speeds between waypoints; and actively detect obstacles for collision avoidance purposes.
Autonomous marine systems also enable optionally manned or autonomous-assist (reduced crew) modes that can reduce mission delays and maximize effort. This is an important feature for anyone performing time-sensitive operations, such as on-water search-and-rescues or other urgent missions.

Autonomous marine systems offer obstacle detection and collision avoidance capabilities that keep people and assets safe and out of harm’s way. These advanced technologies are much more reliable and accurate than the human eye, especially in times of low light or in poor sea conditions.

Because today’s systems enable remote-helm control and remote payload management, there is a reduced need for mariners (such as marine fire or spill response crews) to physically man a vessel in a dangerous environment. A remote-helm control beltpack also improves visibility by enabling mariners to step outside of the wheelhouse to whatever location provides the best vantage point when performing tight maneuvers, dockings and other precision operations.

Autonomous marine systems enable situational awareness with multiple cameras and sensors streaming live over a 4G connection. This real-time data allows shoreside or at-sea operators a full view of an autonomous vessel’s environment, threats and opportunities.

Minimally manned vessels can autonomously collaborate to cover more ground with less resources required, creating a force-multiplier effect. A single shoreside operator can command multiple autonomous boats with full situational awareness.

These areas of value overlap for all sectors but for the government and military sector, new on-water capabilities and unmanned vessels are a leading driver. By contrast, the commercial sector is looking for increased productivity, efficiency, and predictable operations. Our systems meet all of these needs. Our technology is designed to be installed on new vessels as well as existing vessels. Sea Machines’ ability to upgrade existing fleets greatly reduces the time and cost to leverage the value of our autonomous systems.

How are you getting to the market? Is there competition?

Sea Machines has an established dealer program to support the company’s global sales across key commercial marine markets. The program includes many strategic partners who are enabled to sell, install and service the company’s line of intelligent command and control systems for workboats. To date, Sea Machines dealers are located across the US and Canada, in Europe, in Singapore and UAE. We have competition for autonomous marine systems, but our products are the only ones that are retrofit ready, not requiring new vessels to be built.

Do you have any users or customers?

Yes we have achieved significant sales traction since launching our SM series of products in 2018. Just since the summer, Sea Machines has been awarded several significant contracts and partnerships:

The first allowed us to begin serving the survey vessel market with the first announced collaboration with DEEP BV in the Netherlands. DEEP’s vessel outfitted with the SM300 entered survey service very recently.
Next, we partnered with Castine-based Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) and representatives of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD)’s Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) Program to bring valuable, hands-on education about autonomous marine systems into the MMA curriculum.

Then we recently announced a partnership with shipbuilder Metal Shark Boats, of Jeanerette, Louisiana, to supply the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)’s Research and Development Center (RDC) with a new Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel for the purposes of testing and evaluating the capabilities of available autonomous vessel technology. USCG demonstrations are happening now (through November 5) off the coast of Hawaii.

Finally, just this month, we announced that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded us with a multi-year Other Transaction (OT) agreement. The primary purpose of the agreement is to initiate a prototype that will enable commercial ocean-service barges as autonomous Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) units for an Amphibious Maritime Projection Platform (AMPP). Specifically, Sea Machines will engineer, build and demonstrate ready-to-deploy system kits that enable autonomous, self-propelled operation of opportunistically available barges to land and replenish military aircraft.

In the second half of 2020 we are also commencing onboard collaborations with some crew-transfer vessel (CTV) operators serving the wind farm industry.

How is the company funded?

The company recently completed a successful Series B round, which provided $15M in funds, with a total amount raised of $27.5M since 2017. The most recent funds we were able to raise are going to significantly impact Sea Machines, and therefore the maritime and marine industries as a whole. The funds will be put to use to further strengthen our technical development team as well as build out our next level of systems manufacturing and scale our operations group to support customer deployments. We will also be investing in some supporting technologies to speed our course to full dock-to-dock, over-the-horizon autonomy. The purpose of our technology is to optimize vessel operations with increased performance, productivity, predictability and ultimately safety.

In closing, we’d like to add that the marine industries are a critically significant component of the global economy and it’s up to us to keep it strong and relevant. Along with people, processes and capital, pressing the bounds of technology is a key driver. The world is being revolutionized by intelligent and autonomous self-piloting technology and today we find ourselves just beyond the starting line of a busy road to broad adoption through all marine sectors. If Sea Machines continues to chart the course with forward-looking pertinence, then you will see us rise up to become one of the most significant companies and brands serving the industry in the 21st century.

Any anecdotes/stories?

This month we released software version 1.7 on our SM300. That’s seven significant updates in just over 18 months, each one providing increased technical hardening and new features for specific workboat sectors.

Another interesting story is about our Series B funding, which, due to the pandemic, we raised virtually. Because of where we are as a company, we have been proving our ability to retool the marine industry with our technology, and therefore we are delivering confidence to investors. We were forced to conduct the entire process by video conference, which may have increased overall efficiency of the raise as these rounds traditionally require thousands if not tens of thousands of miles of travel for face-to-face meetings, diligence, and handshakes. Remote pitches also proved to be an advantage because it allowed us to showcase our technology in a more direct way. We did online demos where we had our team remotely connected to our vessels off Boston Harbor. We were able to get the investors into the captain’s chair, as if they were remotely commanding a vessel in real-world operations.

In January, we announced the receipt of ABS and USCG approval for our SM200 wireless helm and control systems on a major class of U.S.-flag articulated tug-barges (ATBs), the first unit has been installed and is in operation, and we look forward to announcing details around it. We will be taking the SM200 forward into the type-approval process.

Source: sea-machines

Many shipowners are facing challenges in finalizing the Inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) required under the upcoming European Union’s Ship Recycling Regulations (EUSRR) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, BIMCO, the world’s largest shipowner association, said.

Namely, as of December 31, 2020, the regulations will require ships of 500 GT and above flying the flag of an EU country, and all other ships regardless of the flag, to carry an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) when visiting an EU or European Economic Area (EEA) port.

The association reached out to its members in May to see if the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak had presented challenges to shipowners, who were in the process of completing their IHM and obtaining the necessary documentation prior to the compliance deadline.

“The responses showed that approximately 137 (58%) of the 236 ships operated by the respondents would be affected by the new regulation. Out of the affected ships, 33 (24%) had completed the process, while the rest were at various stages of compliance. The IHM process of almost all the respondents had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” BIMCO said.

As a result, BIMCO and other shipping organisations have signed a letter addressed to the EU Commission, outlining the challenges posed by the pandemic and asking the commission to consider a time-limited implementation or grace period to enable shipping companies to complete the IHM process whilst coping with the COVID-19 restrictions and interruptions.

The letter also includes a set of Industry Guidelines on European Union Ship Recycling Regulation Compliance and Developing Inventories of Hazardous Materials that BIMCO members are encouraged to use.

“If the December 31, 2020 deadline cannot be met, BIMCO recommends the development of IHMs on the oldest ships first. Old ships are in general more likely to be recycled and such a risk-based planning will demonstrate how shipowners are working proactively in accordance with the spirit of the new EU regulation,” BIMCO added.

Source: offshore

The bunkering took place on 9 October in Dutch waters in line with EPS’ environmental, social and governance policy. The company said the policy calls for the testing and using alternative marine fuels to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.

EPS was supplied with a residual-fuel equivalent biofuel oil (BFO). The BFO’s performance will be tested and analysed on Pacific Beryl and other classes of EPS-managed ships in the near future.

EPS said the biofuel trial highlights the company’s readiness to invest in biofuels. EPS chief executive Cyril Ducau said “We are fully committed to investing in and taking action to lower our carbon footprint. At EPS, we believe that sustainability begins with accountability, which is why we are taking a mixed marine fuel approach towards reducing our emissions.

“We are already implementing LNG and LPG across 30 of our newbuilds, but we need to look at other options for our existing fleet. Biofuels, such as the advanced, sustainable biofuels supplied by Goodfuels, provides us with a solution that matches our values and sustainability agenda. Our whole team is looking forward to the results of this trial and expects biofuels to be another example of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

Goodfuels’ chief operating officer Bart Hellings said “This announcement marks yet another important milestone in accelerating the energy transition within shipping. We are delighted this test with EPS was a success and want to thank them for fully embracing a carbon-busting solution that is scalable, truly sustainable, technically compliant and affordable.”

Earlier this year Goodfuels completed successful biofuel trials aboard Stena Bulk’s 49,646-dwt MR tanker Stena Immortal and Minship’s 30,790-dwt tanker MV Trudy.

Source: rivieramm

New environmental rules are coming into force and Global Maritime is ready to help you with certified experts to perform IHM analysis. Going forward Shipowners and Shipbuilders must demonstrate safe and environmentally viable management of Hazardous Material.

Global Maritime has experts certified as “Approved Hazmat Experts” by DNV-GL and can assist with an effective process for generation of correct IHMs, to comply with the following new regulations:

EUSRR – European Ship Recycling Regulations

HKC – Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe Environment Sound Recycling of Ships

What is Inventory of Hazardous Material (IHM)?

An IHM is a document that states what types and quantities of hazardous materials are present on board your vessel.

The IHM Consists of three (3) Parts:

PART I: Hazardous materials contained in the Ship’s Structure and equipment

PART II: Operationally generated wastes

PART III: Stores

(PART II & III Should be prepared only prior Recycling)

How are these new regulations being implemented?

EU-Flagged New-buildings are required to have onboard a verified IHM with a statement of Compliance 31st December 2018, at the latest

Existing EU-Flagged vessels are required to have onboard a verified IHM with statement of compliance at 31st December 2020, at the latest

Non-EU-Flagged vessels calling EU ports are required to have onboard a verified IHM with a statement of compliance at the earliest by 31st December 2020.

Source: globalmaritime

The Hong Kong Convention requires a certified Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) for each vessel no later 5 years after entry into force of the Convention, which probably will happen many years ahead of us.  Nevertheless, the EU has implemented the EU Ship Recycling Regulation setting a clear deadline for IHM onboard. The EU Regulation has entered into force in 2013 allowing the industry 7 years for compliance with the requirement. Legislators also provide related guidelines like e.g. Guidelines for the Development of IHM (Res. MEPC.269(68)); Guidelines for Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling (Res. MEPC.210(63)) and; ECSA Best Practice Guidance on IHM.

The IHM is needed for identification of suitable Ship Recycler by owners. It can be used for identifying risks during ship operations as it informs crew, repair and conversion yards about hazardous materials onboard, contributing to incident and accident preparedness and response. It enables ship recyclers to plan the recycling of a ship by considering hazardous material during ship recycling and planning of decontamination activities in order to deploy specifically trained workers, select and use of proper PPE (personal protective equipment) and plan in advance the removal and disposals of HazMats. Also, ships are getting ready for recycling certification needed. The IHM for new ships is completely different from the IHM of existing ships. In my opinion, IHM for new ships requires much more effort as it is much more time consuming.

IHM for new ships

The shipyard is responsible for compiling the IHM based on information provided by suppliers via the Suppliers Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) and the Material Declaration (MD) in which the supplier makes a clear statement whether or not HazMats are contained. If they are contained, the supplier must specify place and quantity. The EU has added two more HazMats, the so called PFOS and HBCDD, therefore the EU IHM is different from the IMO IHM.

IHM for existing ships

The owner is responsible for the IHM which should be prepared by IHM professionals and is based on investigation, samplings, analyses, calculations and documentation. The accuracy of an IHM depends on planning; expertise on sampling locations (materials – indicative lists); number of samples taken; detail of documentation; laboratory standards and expertise; and the interpretation of laboratory results.

EU Regulation on Ship Recycling

New ships are required to have an IHM onboard from 30 Dec 2015 while all existing ships under EU-flag or any flag when visitng an EU-port, until 30 Dec 2020. All EU-ships heading sent for recycling since end of 2016 are obliged to have a certified IHM onboard as well.

The Hong Kong Convention will apply to approximately 48,000 ships while the EU Regulation on Ship Recycling to 30,000 ships. The deadline means that from today and onwards until 2020, 36ships per day have to get a certified IHM. The truth is that at the moment we´re far below this figure; the industry is not prepared.

There are three possible scenarios regarding the supply and demand of the IHM:

Firstly, to have a linear increase due to constant demand and doubling of supply every year.

Secondly, to have a gradual increase due to increasing demand and supply.. At the moment, there is more supply than demand, meaning that if you go for an IHM at the moment, you can easily negotiate on the price. We are expecting in the couple years this situation to change as supply & demand ratio affects pricing. This means that prices will go up in future.

Thirdly, to have a progressive increase which I believe it is most likely due to last minute rush for the IHM-deadline, as previous examples in the industry have indicated as well. In that case, the supply will try to follow the demand and of course the price will go up higher.

Nevertheless, no matter what, I do believe that it is highly unlikely for all the 30,000 ships to have an IHM onboard at the end of 2020. When I discussed about it at the European Commission, they didn’t consider granting extensions, because the industry had seven years to prepare from entry into force of EU-Regulation in 2013.

In conclusion, the deadlines are fixed and a huge number of ships is addressed, therefore, an increase of IHM-orders is necessary. IHMA global network ensures compliant and effective IHM preparations already and plans for training of more IHM experts. Owners are advised to ensure timely preparation, therefore, the following actions are recommended:

• For existing fleet: acquire IHM latest by 2020; order HazMat Professional for IHM soon and get class for certification of IHM
• For new builds: include IHM in building specification (since end of 2015) and get class for certification of IHM
• For last voyage: the EU ships must have a certified IHM onboard and be scrapped at a recycler who is included in the EU-list (published in Dec. 2016)
• For operation: nominate a designated person, use data repository to maintain IHM; set up process to get MDs and SDoCs (suppliers need intensive communication with their supply chains and this may take long time).

Source: safety4sea

From 31 December 2020, all ships of 500 GT and above – regardless of the flag they are flying – will be required to carry an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) when calling a port or anchorage of a country that is a member of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA). Failure to do so may result in penalisation.

The European Union’s Ship Recycling Regulations (EUSRR) that came into force in December 2018 pose certain obligations to all ships of 500 gross tonnage (GT) and above, flying the flag of countries in the EU or EEA, with certain exceptions such as warships, naval auxiliary or other ships on non-commercial service.

In addition, there is a requirement in EUSRR that applies to not only ships flying the flag of countries in the EU or EEA but also to all ships of 500 GT and above, regardless of the flag they are flying, when calling a port or anchorage of a country that is a member of the EU or EEA.

The requirement is that from 31 December 2020, all such ships should carry an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) that is compliant with EUSRR, and for ships flying a flag of country outside the EU/EEA region, this must be accompanied by a statement of compliance from the flag state.

Port state control officers will control the certificate and the quality of the IHM and in case of non-compliance, ships may be warned, detained, dismissed or excluded from the ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a member state.

For existing ships, the IHM should be based on visual and sampling checks and include the approximate quantity and location of a number of specified hazardous materials on board. While the IHM can be generated by own resources of a shipowner, there are IHM service providers, including classification societies, which already offer such services.

The following guidance documents on this subject are available for users through:

International Maritime Organization (IMO)
A guidance document developed by industry associations including BIMCO
The European Maritime Safety Agency’s (EMSA)
When external companies are used, visual and sampling checks require IHM service providers to board each ship. Experience has shown that the whole process may take three months or longer, depending on the size and construction of the ship and how the desktop review has been prepared by the shipowner.

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) provides the following guidance about IHM surveys: “The initial desktop review may be performed remotely and followed up by onboard verification at a later date, subject to flag administration’s approval.”

In the present COVID-19 situation however, possibilities of having IHM service providers and surveyors on board is limited due to travel restrictions and lock-down measures arising from COVID-19.

It is therefore recommended that owners and operators of existing ships, who trade in EU and EEA countries, plan well in advance to comply with EUSRR IHM requirements by the 31 December 2020 deadline.
Source: BIMCO