Shipowner OceanPal launches AI-focused subsidiary with US$120M funding

The owner clarified that despite this expansion, OceanPal will continue to operate as a global shipping transport provider, specialising in the ownership and operation of bulk carriers and product tankers. The company’s fleet currently consists of three vessels.

The US-listed owner, a spin-off from Diana Shipping, recently closed a US$120M private investment in public equity transaction for the purchase and sale of common stock and/or prefunded warrants.

The net proceeds will be used to implement a digital asset treasury strategy through the new wholly owned subsidiary, SovereignAI, which will focus on monetising the NEAR Protocol, a blockchain platform designed for AI applications.

OceanPal aims to become a leading public investment vehicle providing exposure to NEAR, the NEAR Protocol’s native token, and the foundational AI infrastructure needed to enable agentic commerce.

SovereignAI plans to monetise its infrastructure business by accumulating NEAR tokens, aiming to acquire at least 10% of the total NEAR supply over time.

According to the company, the “NEAR Protocol’s focus on agentic AI and chain abstraction aligns with growing institutional interest in automation, compliance and scalable AI infrastructure, evidenced by continued support from leading TradFi and crypto-native funds.”

New board appointments

This strategic diversification has prompted new appointments to OceanPal’s executive team. Salvatore Ternullo has been named director, chairperson of the board, and co-chief executive, bringing expertise in early-stage investing, asset management and frontier technologies at firms such as State Street, KPMG and most recently as General Partner at A100x.

David Schwed joins as chief operating officer, bringing experience in information security and privacy in both traditional finance and crypto-native contexts.

“We plan to use this decentralised, confidential compute infrastructure to capitalise on the explosive demand for privacy-first, regulatory-compliant AI across enterprise markets, including finance, healthcare and media, while enabling businesses and consumers to maintain control and ownership,” said Mr Ternullo.

“SovereignAI is positioned at the convergence of two massive transformations – AI and digital ownership,” added Mr Schwed. “Our strategy goes beyond treasury management to actively build the infrastructure enabling user-owned, privacy-preserving AI at scale.”

OceanPal has established an advisory board for SovereignAI, chaired by Illia Polosukhin, chief executive and co-founder of NEAR Foundation. Other members include Richard Muirhead, founder of Fabric Ventures and NEAR Foundation Council member; Lukasz Kaiser of OpenAI; Philippe Sachs of Nscale; Andy Brown of Sandhill East; and Jackie Kennedy of Quicknode.