YGT did not reveal the extent of the investment, but said the move will allow it to work closely with Zeabuz in the development of autonomous technology.
Zeabuz is a spin-off from the leading research community on autonomous vessels at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, which built the world’s first autonomous urban ferry prototypes. The company’s autonomy mobility system has received financial backing from the European Union and later this year, ferry operator Torghatten will launch a ferry service designed and operated by Zeabuz’s autonomy system.
YGT plans to incorporate the autonomous system across a future fleet of electric vessels and boost the safety and efficiency levels of the vessels while reducing the manning required during passenger and cargo transport.
YGT chief executive Eirik Barclay said, “We recognise the enormous potential of autonomous vessels and see Zeabuz as being well placed to become a leader in this segment. Following this investment, we look forward to collaborating closely with Zeabuz to bring highly innovative autonomous vessel solutions to the Singapore market.”
YGT’s business unit invests in novel green businesses, R&D and strategic partnerships to develop integrated smart green assets and infrastructure with the ultimate aim of creating a proprietary digital marketplace that provides accessible tech-based low-carbon products and services to help businesses achieve their own net-zero ambitions.
Strategic investments currently include an advanced hydrofoil system for electric vessels, e-bike, swappable batteries and marine energy storage systems.
