Greek companies unveil vessel hull-grooming tool

Fouling on vessel hulls not only increases fuel consumption, it could have serious consequences, as seen by cruise ships missing or delaying port calls.

A pair of Greek companies, Oriani Hellas, which represents software provider VesOPS in Greece, and Scrufy Partnership, have teamed up to develop BlueBOT, an autonomous robot that attaches to the hull of a vessel magnetically and grooms the surface.

The robot also collects data and generates reports on the state of the hull and the effectiveness of the grooming process, allowing the vessel operator to make informed decisions regarding the performance and efficiency of its vessels.

Oriani Hellas business development director John Vandoros said, “Oriani prides itself on identifying the most innovative digital solutions to represent within the maritime industry, ones that deliver value to shipping companies on their voyage of digital transformation. BlueBOT and the state-of-the-art technology it contains represents not only the huge potential within robotics, but how that potential can be harnessed and delivered in the real world to achieve actual change.”

Scrufy PC managing director Nick Arapkoules said, "Our partnership with Oriani marks the beginning of a new commercial chapter for Scrufy and our revolutionary product, BlueBOT. Given the significant opportunity for opex reduction provided by our solution, we believe BlueBOT will soon be the preferred choice of the shipping industry for biofouling management and reporting.”