The One Sea autonomous shipping technology alliance has announced that it has secured new funding from the Finnish government to support its role as business ecosystem, and has also welcomed Shipbrokers Finland as a new partner.
One Sea is led by DIMECC Ltd (Digital, Internet, Materials & Engineering Co-Creation), and includes a variety of high-profile companies working on autonomous systems and technologies, with members including ABB, Cargotec, Ericsson, Finnpilot Pilotage, Rolls-Royce Marine, Tieto and Wärtsilä.
The Finnish government has been very proactive in its support for the development of autonomous shipping through both domestic legislation and international advocacy, and the country’s new investment in the One Sea project, via Business Finland, will help to sustain the ecosystem’s work for the next three years.
The funding will support the project’s technology partners in pursuing further sea trials of their new technologies, as well as their further efforts to drive the international agenda when it comes to adoption of autonomous shipping standards. The One Sea ecosystem says that it aims to enable autonomous maritime transport by 2025.
Business benefit
“Digital technologies could transform every aspect of shipping and maritime logistics, but these benefits will only be realised through strong cooperation. One Sea was established expressly to facilitate such strategic collaboration,” said Sari Turkkila, Executive Director of new partner Shipbrokers Finland.
“As the logistics chain becomes more efficient, all Finnish export companies will benefit – and all of Finland will benefit. As we searched for a partner on this critical issue for the maritime industry, it became clear that no single company or organisation had the breadth to capture all of the benefits on offer. With One Sea representing the key players in the field, DIMECC is the ideal platform for us.”
One Sea ecosystem lead Päivi Haikkola, from DIMECC Ltd, also commented: “We intend to keep working in the same cost-effective manner we have followed from day one, diligently exploiting our own resources and collaborative capabilities as much as possible. The continuing funding from Business Finland supports our co-creation platform until 2021 in sustaining its mission on all fronts.”
“We have come together to pursue a unique opportunity – one which promises to generate millions, if not billions, of Euros in new business value.”
