Posidonia 2022 offers fertile ground for tech startups
A significant number of marine industry-focused tech startups from around the world will showcase their solutions and platforms during Posidonia Exhibition 2022 to be held at Athens’ Metropolitan Expo Centre from 6-10 June.
Online marketplaces designed to bridge the gap between marine service suppliers and ship owners & managers and developers of innovative solutions promising to help the industry achieve decarbonisation goals and solve just about any issue they are faced with, will converge on the exhibition floor of the world’s most prestigious shipping event to educate the industry on the latest technological developments and promote their solutions.
“Groundbreaking innovations backed up by cutting-edge technologies which are set to transform shipping will be in full display in great numbers this June as the race towards the digitisation of the marine sector is well underway in a market which experts estimate to be worth $345bn by 2030,” said Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A.
Market forces, such as increased profitability in the container and dry bulk sectors, combined with increasing regulatory and social pressures to reduce carbon efficiencies are driving owner and operator interest in the accelerated adoption of new technologies that improve competitiveness and fuel efficiencies.
Bid2board is just one of solutions to be showcased at Posidonia 2022. Leveraging the power of data management, the start-up helps ship managers enjoy time efficient, simple and organized technical service arrangement, and service suppliers gain increased visibility and improved workflows from enquiry receipt until the execution of service.
“The automated process and data provided during the bidding process allows our customers to have insights on the competition and improve their offers while reducing the time spent in service arrangements in a transparent and controlled manner,” said Andreas - Minos Zompanakis, Chief Executive Officer. “Posidonia is a great place for us to demonstrate our technology in front of a targeted and influential audience from the global maritime community.”
At Posidonia 2022 digital frontrunner Dualog is preparing to showcase its solutions with the purpose of bringing ship and shore closer. From being the very first enabler of maritime email messaging for fishing vessels operating on the edge of the polar ice fields, Dualog now continuously develops new innovations at sea. “Our customers are looking to enable the integrated ship in their business strategy” said CCO Silje Moan, adding that with more than 5000 vessels in our client portfolio we plan to leverage our Posidonia presence to further reinforce the reputation as the creator of purpose-built email, data transfer, internet management, and cybersecurity solutions for the shipping industry.
Shipping 4.0 is the motto of KeeIX, another exhibitor at Posidonia 2022, where it plans to offer free demos to exhibitors who pre-book an appointment. The independent maritime tech group spun out of Lemissoler Group in 2020 on a quest to accelerate the maritime industry’s adoption of digital technologies.
“Our brands are designed for ashore and onboard use with a special focus on integrating AI with SaaS (Software as a Service), fleet performance monitoring tools, on-demand crew training and robotics. Our products are aligned with the Decade of Action to deliver the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is due to transform the world,” said Aristos Philis, Chief Executive Officer.
Sustainability has long been on the radar of the maritime community spurred by the desire to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, and digital technologies can have a pivotal role in helping the sector meet the IMO’s imminent milestone deadlines.
The reduction of maritime emissions is the focus of another Posidonia 2022 exhibitor, ChordX, which develops and provides innovative solutions that help ship owners and operators reach the industry’s decarbonisation goal. The Singapore-based startup focuses on developing solutions that meet regulatory compliance reporting needs, such as with IMO DCS, EU MRV, CII, EEOI, and AER.
“As a key supporter of innovation and collaboration, we continuously seek out ways where we can help our customers achieve sustainable shipping,” said Hong Tin Wei, Head of Partnerships & Finance. “Shipping is one of the oldest and most influential industries, and Posidonia is the home show of the Greek shipowning community with a legacy as long as the industry itself, and so we feel that our presence there will help bridge the gap between the industry’s past and future.”
The ever-growing list of tech startups exhibiting at this summer’s Posidonia includes Nereus Digital Bunkers, a Greek marine fuel brokerage and technology company which has developed a marine fuel procurement software with built-in analytics aiming at digitizing the complex fuel procurement ecosystem end to end. The platform provides relevant real-time port information and bunker indication prices in a clear and concise manner. The software provides solutions using sophisticated analytics, oil pricing forecasting, and marine fuel future curves that cover and exceed the needs of the industry across the whole spectrum, from maritime fuel suppliers to purchasers.
Founder Nikolas Gkikas believes that demand for green shipping solutions will increase: “The digital processing of ship consumption data will be the basis for decarbonisation. We are keeping up with all the new regulations and try to simplify the reporting procedures and are considering how we will cooperate with major companies that manufacture and monitor main engines so that their data can enter directly into the bunkering department of each shipping company.”
Another debutant is MESPAS, a Swiss IT and engineering company. Their technical ship management software enables the maritime industry to run its ships safely and efficiently, resulting in better performance, decreased costs and lower emissions. Their e-trading platform allows ships, management offices and suppliers to digitally place and receive offers, orders and invoices.
MESPAS is the only company in the maritime industry whose products are provided on cloud-based software, with a unique library of millions of machine types, spare parts and documents, all instantly available to our customers to improve their business processes.
MESPAS recently opened offices in Athens and Iraklis Tarlas, Area Manager, Greece commented on their Posidonia participation: “We will present a new mobile app for preventive and corrective maintenance, a new product Instant Buy, as well as other new software features. We will also introduce our new subsidiary MESPAS Greece as a key hub for operations in Greece and beyond and aim to show the maritime community the true benefits of our smart data and unique cloud-based software solutions for ship owners and managers.
The endless list of tech startups participating at Posidonia this year includes also Opsealog, a French company specialized in performance management, SOL-X, a leading Behavioral Based Safety company initially from California and now based in Singapore, Harbor Lab which was launched in March 2020 in Athens to provide software for the disbursements departments for shipowners, management companies and charterers and TICTAC Recovery, the first Data Recovery Company in Greece operating since 1999, which has saved the day for many companies ever since.
Posidonia is organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy, the Union of Greek Shipowners and the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and with the support of the Municipality of Piraeus and the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee.