Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines Robotics have announced a new collaboration agreement to work together to deliver remote command, autonomous control and intelligent crew support systems to the marine market.
As part of this agreement, Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems business unit will work with Sea Machines on the development and sale of fully and semi-autonomous vessel control systems, with Rolls-Royce receiving sales and service rights for existing and future Sea Machines products to add alongside its existing mtu NautIQ marine automation portfolio.
“Our autonomous vessel control products and advanced perception systems are pioneering the revolutionary shift of conventional and manual vessel control effort from human to intelligent technology,” said Michael Johnson, CEO and founder of Sea Machines.
“Autonomous systems take over routine efforts, reduce stress for crews and thus increase operational predictability and safety. The technology makes shipping more productive, economical and contributes to more sustainable operations.”
“We partner with those best-in-class and Rolls-Royce stands out as being most trusted. We look forward to serving the market together and furthering the technology that provides solutions for customers.”
The strategic cooperation agreement is focused on products for remote and autonomous vessel control and situational awareness, primarily for yachts, commercial and government vessels. The two companies will also work together to develop new capabilities to aggregate and analyse vessel data and intelligently control the ships based on the information collected.
“Our aim is to offer our customers highly innovative and integrated solutions which are industry-leading – from propulsion, ship automation, bridge systems to semi- and fully autonomous control systems, complemented by our digital solutions like our latest Equipment Health Management system mtu NautIQ Foresight,” said Claudius Müller, Head of Business Development of the marine business at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
“Following the acquisition of Servowatch and the inclusion of bridge systems into our newly launched mtu NautIQ portfolio, the agreement with Sea Machines is the logical next step.”
