They have started working with ferry operator FRS Group, Connected Places Catapult, and the Council of the Isles of Scilly to develop a feasibility study to create a new green shipping corridor between St Mary’s on the islands and Newlyn on the mainland and hopes to better understand the economic, business, and social cases of using the system.

0:02 – 0:33

Today we’re on the water with Artemis Technologies and we’re going to experience their EF12 workboat during London International Shipping Week. Now, the boat is 100% electric and carries an innovative Efoiler technology which actually lifts the boat above the surface of the water and all of that results in a really efficient operation. So underneath this boat, go down the strut, is an aeroplane wing. In the center of that aeroplane wing is the propulsion system. The boat then starts to speed up as you accelerate and eventually, just like an aeroplane, there’s enough for it to come out of the water.

0:33 – 1:06

So at that point the energy requirement goes right down and that allows this boat to do really, really high speed for long distances on battery electric alone. Decarbonisation is not only a uk, but a global challenge. Transport plays a key role in terms of addressing that challenge and maritime is a really important subsector of transport. So it’s really important that we develop technologies like this in the UK to really address that global decarbonisation challenge. Sam.

Clean Futures Accelerator

Clean Futures is supporting the West Midlands’ transport sector as it transitions from fossil fuels to clean technologies. The programme is also driving regional economic growth by accelerating the route to market for SMEs in the sector.

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AI tech specialists selected for trial with major maritime clients

Two participants in the Transport Accelerator: Maritime have been chosen to showcase their systems and develop their innovations with established industry partners.

Start-up technology firms Fidelis AI and Lorefully have been selected to trial their solutions on site alongside established companies in the maritime sector.

The two companies were welcomed on to the Transport Accelerator: Maritime 2025 as part of a cohort of seven SMEs in September.

Fidelis AI will run a trial of its AI-powered 3D-simulation technology with Serco and Portsmouth International Port in parallel, to efficiently assess autonomous systems development against business goals within representative use cases and environments in the maritime sector, including defence and autonomous systems in ports.

“This is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate how our AI simulation technologies can drive efficiency and enhance autonomous systems development,” says Fidelis AI Chief Executive, Dr Abanoub Ghobrial.

“These trials will provide strong external validation of Fidelis AI, laying the foundations for deeper commercial relationships, broader adoption across the maritime industry, and a major milestone in our roadmap; contributing towards safer and more scalable autonomy in the UK and beyond.”

Lorefully will team up with the National Shipbuilding Office to develop its AI platform to help capture and share critical operational knowledge from frontline teams and communities; creating insights to improve decision making to keep people safe and systems running smoothly.

“We are thrilled to be working with Connected Places Catapult and the National Shipbuilding Office to investigate the critical challenge of skills within the shipbuilding sector,” says Lorefully Chief Executive, Dr Amrit Chandan. “This is a vital sector for the UK, and we are pleased to contribute towards helping to grow the industry using our technology.”

Funded by Innovate UK, the Transport Accelerator: Maritime programme supports SMEs with pioneering solutions that could be applicable to maritime and the wider transport sector. Previous participants on Connected Places Catapult’s Maritime Accelerator – the predecessor to this programme – have gone on to raise over £24m in private investment as a result of the programme.

“Increasingly advanced technologies are being developed in maritime, which presents a huge opportunity for the UK to present itself as a frontrunner in this sector.

“Our maritime-focused accelerators have tracked the rise of innovation in the sector, and the latest cohort has yielded two companies developing tailored solutions which harness artificial intelligence to drive informed decision making. We look forward to seeing these two solutions proceed to real world trials.”
Connected Places Catapult’s Aviation and Maritime Director, Arthy Ravichandran

Find out more about the Transport Accelerator: Maritime.

Transcript

0:16 – 0:27

We’ve developed a wind propulsion system for commercial shipping. It’s a rigid wing that sits on the deck of the vessel, so effectively it reduces thrust to the vessel from a differential in pressure to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

0:33 – 0:43

At spatial cortex, we develop sensors and analytics that helps workplaces understand and reduce the risk of injuries, like back injuries from manual handling or from desk waste work.

0:49 – 1:23

So there’s a big driver at the moment for the decarbonisation of the maritime sector. And we’ve developed the world’s first uncrewed surface vessel that is powered by hydrogen, where you’ve got zero carbon emissions whilst operating for long periods of time in harbour and at sea. The opportunity that the accelerator has given to us is engaging with key trial partners in the maritime sector like Port of Time and Serco. We are trialing our manual handling solution so it is the full body ergonomic solution. It will give us detailed understanding of the effectiveness of our solution and also optimize our solution further.

1:23 – 1:56

At the Port of Town, our strategic goal is to have zero harm year on year. So it’s a perfect collaboration for the Port of Time, fostering innovation, working with SMEs, working with the likes of Kailash, to be able to be a test bed for these innovative technologies. So the grant money has permitted us to go through the journey of designing, testing, trialing the vessel and its hydrogen powertrain and we are soon to conduct our at sea test with that hydrogen powertrain. Proving that use case has been an excellent opportunity for us. So we’re at the stage now whereby we can use the tech, we can certify it and commercialize it.

1:56 – 2:27

Trig has actually been extremely helpful for us in getting approval in principle with a classification body bureau, Veritas, to verify that the wing meets class requirements in a real world environment. Obviously funding is one of the benefits, but it’s not the only thing. We’ve had a huge amount of support and coaching and guidance throughout the whole process. We also benefited from business support with financial modeling, market sizing and thirdly, the investor readiness. Without the connected places catapult, we would not have been able to grow the team from six of us to a team of 20.

2:27 – 2:48

Helping out in the local economy. Trig’s been extremely helpful in our commercial growth. We’ve got now installing the first wing on a ship, so that’s extremely exciting, a huge milestone for the company. We’ve also secured 1.25 million in grant funding from the UK government, Innovate UK and we have secured a 1.25 million seed investment round. And all of that came as part of the benefits that we got out of the program.

2:49 – 3:28

We have ambitions whereby we have a fleet of these vessels for offshore renewable energy, for offshore oil and gas, for, for marine protected areas and for defense and security. And we’re investigating their potential for a larger variant, significant decarbonisation potential there for all of those use cases globally. Our ambition is making our technology available to majority of workplaces in key sectors including transport, maritime and warehousing. Our technology has the potential to reduce injuries by 77% and that is our driver. Over the next few months we’re looking to verify the technology to make sure that it works the way that we know that it does and to prove that to the world.

3:28 – 3:57

We can then go to full commercialization, sell these units to the global fleet to help decarbonise shipping around the world. It’s been absolutely crucial for us as a startup based in the UK, we would not be where we are with this 25 ton robot sea monster if it were not for that funding. Trig has been very helpful for us. Apply, get the learnings that you need from it, get the support you need from IT and go and do some great things. SA.

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