RMN 373

When artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalization are discussed in maritime, attention still gravitates toward autonomous ships. Yet the market is not about de-crewing but, rather, applying vessel and shore data to make operations safer, more fuel-efficient, and easier to maintain.As of 2024, the maritime AI market stood at $4.13 billion, with a projected five-year CAGR of 23%. Market-size estimates should be treated cautiously, but the direction is hard to miss – AI solutions have advanced from trials into voyage planning, machinery monitoring, bridge decision support, port coordination, and digital assurance.

Accelerating demand for subsea power and telecoms cable network construction is fuelling major expansion of the world fleet of purpose-designed cable laying, maintenance and repair vessels.Driven by the growth of the offshore renewables sector and its advance into deeper waters, as well as by widening investment in cables connecting electrical grids in different countries, emergent generations of cable ship are distinguished by scale, productivity, and technological intensity.  Ongoing geopolitical tensions are also giving a fillip to the development of subsea cable infrastructure

Norwegian maritime technology company Kongsberg Maritime has unveiled the Arctic Hunter USV, a new class of uncrewed surface vessels designed for rapid integration and deployment into Hybrid Fleets.In response to the UK Royal Navy’s development of its hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed assets, the Arctic Hunter USV combines commercial ship design with Kongsberg Maritime’s remote and autonomous technologies to deliver anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability in the High North.Kongsberg Maritime has selected one of its Arctic commercial vessel designs to adapt and optimize for the Royal Navy’s Type 92 ASW requirement.

A new liquefied biogas (LBG) facility under construction at the Port of Gothenburg is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2027, providing a new source of renewable marine fuel for vessels calling at Scandinavia's largest port.The project, developed and owned by Swedish energy infrastructure company Nordion Energi, recently reached a construction milestone with the installation of its 500-cubic-meter LBG storage tank. The tank, which arrived at the port by ship, weighs approximately 140 tonnes and will have the capacity to store up to 200 tonnes of liquefied biogas.

SeaBird Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary of SED Energy Holdings, has secured a contract for ocean bottom node (OBN) source work in West Africa, extending employment for its Fulmar Explorer vessel into 2027.The campaign will use the 2009-built vessel and is expected to last approximately six months, including mobilization and demobilization, Energy Holdings announced on November 12.Mobilization is scheduled to begin in December 2026. The company did not disclose the contract value, client or specific offshore location in West Africa.“We are pleased to secure another OBN source project for Fulmar Explorer, extending the vessel’s activity well into 2027.