Ship owning and management group Lomar and technology startup Alicia Bots, which develops robotic and mobility solutions for the maritime, offshore, and oil and gas industries, are collaborating on a robotic system for hull maintenance.
The effort not only integrates cutting-edge robotic hull inspection and cleaning solutions into Lomar’s biofouling control practices, but also tests new use cases, marking a “significant leap forward” in the shipping industry’s pursuit of efficiency and environmental responsibility, the companies said.
Lomar will deploy Alicia Bots’ robotic technology on up to 15 of its vessels. Lomar said the autonomous hull cleaning technology can “effectively reduce” hull fouling, thereby reducing fuel consumption, costs and carbon emissions.
The multi-purpose magnetic crawling robots developed by Alicia Bots can be operated autonomously or remotely via a tether and are designed to perform underwater inspection and maintenance tasks on ships and other steel structures.
Adopting a proactive underwater cleaning program has been shown to reduce fuel consumption, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It can also extend the life of antifouling coatings, reduce point source emissions and the costs of reactive underwater cleaning programs, and prevent the spread of invasive species.
Combining precision robotics and AI analytics, these versatile crawlers enable safer, more efficient and proactive operations. In addition to hull maintenance, they will be used for cargo hold cleaning, firefighting, corrosion detection, repair assistance, data collection, underwater inspection and thickness measurement.
Lomar’s corporate venture lab, lomarlabs, will participate in the collaboration to provide insights into the development of robotics to support offshore operations, particularly progress in developing the potential of autonomous maritime drones.
This promising new technology has the potential to reduce the need for humans to enter hazardous environments to perform basic maintenance work, such as underwater diving operations for routine cleaning.
Lomar is also providing its vessels to Alicia Bots, a project that has received funding from Singapore’s MPA to pilot underwater inspection and cleaning in Singapore, to test new use cases.
Nicholas Georgiou, CEO of Lomar, said: “The advent of AI has dramatically changed the way we view technology as a tool to facilitate everyday operations in the maritime industry.
“Lomar is committed to supporting the development, fine-tuning and implementation of promising technological solutions to transform our operational and environmental efficiency.
“In creating an autonomous system to support hull cleaning and other essential maintenance tasks on ships, Alicia Bots has developed an outstanding system that has great potential to transform existing labor-intensive maintenance processes through more efficient AI technology, while also saving fuel costs and emissions.”
“Our partnership with Lomar is a testament to their and the shipping industry’s commitment to innovation and sustainability,” said Inder Mukhopadhyay, CEO of Alicia Bots.
“Together, we are ushering in a new era in hull maintenance, with cutting-edge technologies such as RoverClean not only ensuring that hulls are always clean, but also paving the way for a greener and more efficient shipping future.”
Related topics:
- Not Another Viral Cleaning Gadget: This One Actually Deserves the Hype
- Consumers Ditch Shark Steam Mops for Cleaner, Shinier Floors
- Vax Steam Fresh Total Home: A True All-Rounder