Groke wins first major European deal

The Groke Pro Situational Awareness system will be installed on board a 60,960dwt geared bulk carrier and a slightly smaller Ultramax vessel on behalf of an undisclosed Greek owner.

This breakthrough deal comes on the back of Groke’s success in the Japanese market, notably on board the wind-assisted bulker Pyxis Ocean.

“The importance of this order cannot be understated,” said Groke Technologies’ chief executive, Juha Rokka.

“Greek of companies control more than 20% of the merchant fleet, making it the world’s largest operator of tonnage. Greece is a hugely important but difficult maritime market to penetrate, so delighted that our first European order is from a Greek operator.”

The scope of supply encompasses the complete Groke Pro package comprising a sensor unit housing two cameras – a thermal night camera and day camera, as well as IMU, dual GNSS and AIS receivers and the Groke Fleet shoreside management solution.

Powered by a central unit installed inside the vessel, AI and machine vision technologies are used to detect and analyse objects in the vessel’s surroundings. Sensor fusion technology melds data from multiple sources to provide situational awareness, day or night.

The company says its system was developed to address safety in real time and is elevated from merely a digital watchkeeper by its risk analysis capability which presents the crew with critical as-it-happens information.