Norway-based ECOsubsea, a hull cleaning specialist, announced that it has secured $12M (€11.38M) in a Series B round of funding led by the Blue Ocean fund managed by French sustainable investor SWEN Capital Partners.
The company says it will use the funds to advance its eco-friendly hull cleaning services in the shipping industry.
“The support from Swen Capital Partners is supercharging our quest to make sustainable hull cleaning widely available and affordable (providing customers a payback of as little as 5 days),” says Tor M. Østervold, CEO of ECOsubsea.
With this recent fund injection, the company is also poised to scale up its operations and offer sustainable hull-cleaning solutions worldwide.
“We’re thrilled to be supporting ECOsubsea in its commercial development and applaud their vision to make a positive impact on the oceans,” says Julie Peyrache, investment director of SWEN’s Blue Ocean fund.
According to Peyrache, the funding aligns with a pivotal moment for both the company and the market.
“The impact on fuel consumption reduction and on the spread of invasive species (one of the main causes of Earth’s ongoing biodiversity crisis) is immediate. This Series B is the first step to expand the activity and we hope to get more investors onboard to accelerate the global reach of ECOsubsea,” she adds.
Sustainable hull cleaning
ECOsubsea’s innovative approach is expected to play a pivotal role in reducing the environmental impact of the shipping industry while maintaining competitiveness in the global market.
Biofouling refers to the unwanted accumulation of various organisms, such as plants, algae, or small aquatic animals and other microorganisms, on vessels’ surfaces. This phenomenon generates over 100 million tons of CO₂ and costs the shipping industry $20B (€18.97B) annually, while invasive alien species contribute to $423B (€401.35B) in global costs and 60 per cent of species extinctions each year.
It is a long-standing challenge in the marine shipping industry that extends beyond disrupting oceanic transportation, posing various issues. It can lead to corrosion as organisms adhere to surfaces. Moreover, the removal process often damages protective coatings, accelerates corrosion, and sometimes uses harsh chemicals.
ECOsubsea’s advanced technology allows for closed-loop hull cleaning, effectively removing biofouling while preventing pollution of marine ecosystems with non-native organisms, toxins, and microplastics. The shipping industry relies on biofouling removal through hull cleaning to enhance vessel performance, fuel efficiency, and emission reduction.
Closed-loop process
ECOsubsea deploys submerged robotic systems that act as ‘vacuum cleaners’ on a ship’s hull, removing biofouling and collecting debris in a closed-loop process.
“We are leaders in the sustainable hull cleaning space. The current practice of uncontrolled release of hazardous waste into the marine environment is not sustainable. Our service is provided in parallel with port operations, it is compatible with all coating types and can be used on any vessel. This is key to ensure a rapid customer uptake and makes it highly scalable,” says Østervold.
“Our goal is to clean a 400-metre container vessel in under 12 hours,” says Østervold.
The technology has been tested on over 1,000 vessels in regulated ports, servicing various shipping sectors. Since 2012, ECOsubsea’s eco-friendly services have saved over 2.3 million tons of CO₂, preserved marine ecosystems by removing 100,000 kg of biofouling, and helped ship owners conserve more than 382 million tons of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO).
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/ecosubsea-bag-11-38m/
