Volvo Penta and autonomy specialist form digital start-up

Marine engine builder, Volvo Penta, is teaming up with Qamcom Group, a technology company specialising in autonomy and artificial intelligence, to develop a digital fuel optimisation platform that has been successfully pilot-tested within the Volvo group.

Under the banner of a newly formed start-up, Cetasol, the partners will focus initially on development of the iHelm system, which combines shipboard data with artificial intelligence on the cloud to assess continuously whether ship performance and fuel consumption are being optimised. The iHelm setup has already demonstrated fuel savings of 17% in the Volvo Penta pilot tests.

“The current pace of technological developments means we need to find additional ways to create customer value through innovation,” explained Volvo Penta’s director of Business Development, Jakob Ursby. “We are already working with services and artificial intelligence, but the unique thing is that the idea has spun off and is growing in a start-up environment with an external tech partner.”

Cetasol’s co-founder and CEO, Ethan Faghani, commented: “The need for increased sustainability has never been more relevant and technology will play a key role in creating new solutions. Cetasol’s mission will be to help commercial marine companies save time and energy by identifying ways to be more efficient through an intelligent support system installed in each vessel.”