The EU has approved a Danish-led, maritime innovation project with a budget of DKK 85 million, intended to enhance safety of navigation and increase efficiency at sea. 13 Danish partners will become frontrunners of the project, which is launched on 1 May.
Focus will be on innovation and further development of services when the triennial maritime project "EfficienSea2" is launched on 1 May.
The Danish Maritime Authority is to lead the project, and an important part of it consists in the development of the ground-breaking "Maritime Cloud" – a communication tool that will strengthen the exchange of information in and around the maritime sector.
The project is also expected to develop a wide range of new digital services within the areas of navigation and automatic ship emission reporting and monitoring, which will increase efficiency.
Finally, the project focuses on the development of more inexpensive and more efficient communication channels at sea – such as intelligent use of the most inexpensive communication channel available and the development of an entirely new cost-effective communication channel referred to as VDES (VHF Data Exchange System).
EU: The project is ground-breaking
The EU interest in the project consists, inter alia, in lifting e-Navigation from the prototype level to real implementation in the Baltic Sea and Arctic waters. The declaration of support from the EU states:
"There's no doubt that this project is ground-breaking and holds a high potential for innovation. This will pave the way to, and fast track to, the introduction and use of modern communication, navigation and administrative systems that better match the companies' requirements for efficiency and increased safety as well as improved usability."
The project consortium consists of 32 partners from 12 different EU countries. The EU has granted funding in an amount of DKK 73.5 million of the project budget of DKK 85 million. 13 of the partners are Danish organizations and companies.
The actors will be front runners in the area of e-Navigation, and the project will function as a showcase of the global unleashing of e-Navigation solutions.