Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics closed a $10 million investment, bringing the total capital the company has raised to $12.5 million. Sea Machines will use the funds to expand the global reach of its recently released line of products, grow its R&D and engineering teams and further develop advanced situational awareness systems for vessels.  

The industrial marine sector encompasses a broad domain of industries, such as maritime transportation, offshore energy and commercial fishing and aquaculture. Though each are major contributors to the global economy, they commonly operate near or below break-even, in large part due to continued reliance on 20th-century methodologies and technologies. Today’s autonomous technologies offer proven solutions to these challenges, and they are already being used to retool and modernize the industry for the better.

Sea Machines is currently developing advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a range of vessel types, including container ships. In the first quarter of this year, the company will initiate testing of its perception and situational awareness technology aboard one of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s new-build ice-class container ships. 

In October, Sea Machines released its introductory line of autonomous command and remote control systems, developed for the demanding challenges of vessels serving the offshore commercial, scientific and government applications. The Sea Machines product series is available now and can be installed aboard existing or new-build commercial vessels. —Sea Machines Robotics