U.S. based Sea Machines announced that it has moved its team in Hamburg, Germany to a larger waterfront work space in the Hammerbrook area.
The company said the move supports growing in interest in its autonomous controls and advanced perception technology in European markets ahead of an upcoming product release. The new location more than triples the space Sea Machines had previously and provides dockage for the company's test vessels. The space also accommodates the locally expanding team, which has doubled in the past six months, and provides a new commercial workshop and test lab.
“This move strengthens Sea Machines’ foothold in Germany and supports our growing demand for engineering, sales and marketing across Europe,” explained the company’s CEO, Michael Johnson. “We continue to aggressively develop our products and educate the commercial marine industry about the myriad benefits autonomous control and advanced perception technology offers. The work we’re doing reinvents on-water operations and will revolutionize the marine space.”
In April, Sea Machines shared that it had signed a contract with Danish shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk to trial its perception and situational awareness technology aboard one of the company’s new-build ice-class container ships. Establishing this new Hamburg office will ensure timely delivery of the company’s SM300 industrial-grade control system, and will promote a successful execution of the Sea Machines-Maersk perception and situational awareness technology project, the company said.
The company is also managing a pilot program with another Danish firm, boat builder Tuco Marine, to test the autonomous technology aboard ProZero workboats, including the world’s first autonomous, remote-controlled fireboat.
The SM300 is an industrial-grade control system that provides seamless autonomous and remote vessel control for workboats and other commercial marine vessels. Sea Machines is also actively developing advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a range of vessel types.