French LNG containment specialist GTT has acquired 100 percent of the share capital of the Icelandic smart shipping specialist Marorka.
The company designs maritime energy monitoring and optimization systems for vessels, allowing them to reduce their environmental footprint, with the company’s systems have been installed on more than 600 vessels, GTT said in its statement.
The shipping industry has started its environmental transition in January 2020, when the new IMO regulation entering force, imposing significant reductions in sulphur oxide emissions.
The IMO has furthermore announced a long-term “low-carbon” strategy, including ambitious decarbonization targets. In addition to using LNG as a marine fuel, achieving those objectives will necessarily require smart software technologies and operational data analysis, GTT adds.
Marorka has developed a technical platform and applications, and is a good technical, commercial and geographical complement to Ascenz, GTT’s unit based in Singapore, and represents a new milestone in the company’s digital strategy.
Commenting on the acquisition, Philippe Berterottière , chairman and CEO of GTT, said, “This acquisition is an important new step in GTT’s digital roadmap. Smart shipping is an essential component to allow the shipping industry to reduce its environmental footprint. LNG shipping players are also increasingly seeking digital solutions to optimize their operations and will benefit from an even more compelling service offering from GTT thanks to this acquisition.”
The previous owners will continue to manage the company and will contribute their know-how and experience to the group’s digital strategy, the statement reads.