Finding the operational sweet stop for the environment, passenger comfort, and time of arrival. That is the main objective of the iHelm, an AI-based platform for marine sustainability. It is now being developed by Swedish startup Cetasol, with Volvo Penta and Qamcom as co-owners. Cetasol is currently on a two-year project with support from Vinnova, to develop their solution and scale it up to an industrialized solution.
”The main objective is to reduce the CO2 emissions from marine commercial short sea vessels, like transport ferries. We do this by guiding the operators towards a greener operation,” explains Ethan Faghani, founder and CEO of Cetasol. ”We have seen the potential to save 10-35% of CO2 emissions on diesel drivelines. Now we are in the process of expanding our solution to hybrid and electric vessels as well.”
With Vinnova funding and support, Cetasol is currently evolving its existing solution, the iHelm, to an industrialized scale. They estimate a potential of over existing 160 000 vessels in the target segments worldwide, with 12 000 new vessels added every year.
“We expect to see a 10-35% drop in fuel use when the Vinnova project is over”
At the end of the Vinnova project, Cetasol expects a significant (10-35%) drop in CO2 emissions for early customers. In the project, they are also collaborating with researchers at Halmstad University, to validate and evaluate the solution.
Another aim of the project is to strengthen the partnership between business and research, regarding AI and climate change in the marine sector in Sweden. ”Our solution can also be a method for authorities to measure and enforce CO2 regulation policies in the future,” says Faghani.
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