Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines sign partnership to cooperate on smart ship and autonomous ship control solutions
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Strategic cooperation to expand the new MTU NautIQ marine automation portfolio with remote and autonomous control systems to offer complete automation solutions from a single source
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Continuation of PS 2030 strategy, positioning Rolls-Royce Power Systems as a solutions provider
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Solutions for yachts as well as commercial and government vessels
To provide customers with complete automation solutions from a single trusted source, Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines Robotics announce a new collaboration that will deliver comprehensive remote command, autonomous control, and intelligent crew support systems to the marine market and complement Rolls-Royce’s MTU NautIQ marine automation portfolio.
As part of this agreement, Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems and Sea Machines, the leading developer of remote-vessel command and autonomous control systems, will join forces on the development and sale of fully and semi-autonomous vessel control systems. The combination of Rolls-Royce’s propulsion and automation solutions with Sea Machines’ vessel control products will offer marine customers significant benefits in terms of vessel operations, safety, efficiency, and environmental impact.
Michael Johnson, CEO, and founder of Sea Machines said: “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. 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.”
Denise Kurtulus, Vice President Global Marine at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “As part of our PS 2030 strategy, we are evolving from a propulsion supplier to a provider of integrated sustainable solutions. In the marine sector, we want to provide our customers with complete solutions from ‘bridge to propeller’ with the highest quality customers have come to expect from us. We are delighted to have found another strong and agile partner in Sea Machines to help us achieve this.”
The strategic cooperation will focus on products for remote and autonomous vessel control and situational awareness, primarily for yachts, commercial and government vessels. As part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce Power Systems will receive sales and service rights for existing and future Sea Machines products. The two companies will also work together to develop new capabilities to provide customers with advanced total solutions that aggregate and analyze all vessel data and intelligently control vessels based on this information.
Claudius Müller, Head of Business Development of the marine business at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “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. 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.”
Moran David, Chief Commercial Officer at Sea Machines, stated: “This partnership is a milestone for the marine industry. It signifies Rolls-Royce’s trust with Sea Machines in continuing their long tradition of being at the forefront of innovation. Expanding on Sea Machines’ commercially deployed product range, the companies are already aiming at joint efforts reaching far beyond the development of autonomous ship controls. It’s an exciting time for the future of the marine industry.”
About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc
- Rolls-Royce pioneers the power that matters to connect, power, and protect society. We have pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations by 2030 [excluding product testing] and joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020, affirming our ambition to play a fundamental role in enabling the sectors in which we operate to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050.
- Rolls-Royce Power Systems is headquartered in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany and employs around 9,000 people. The product portfolio includes MTU-brand high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation, heavy land, rail, and defense vehicles and for the oil and gas industry as well as diesel and gas systems and battery containers for mission-critical, standby, and continuous power, combined generation of heat and power, and microgrids.
- Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
- Annual underlying revenue was £11.76 billion in 2020 and we invested £1.25 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
