Wind-powered AI-operated vessel to be designed by lomarlabs and CargoKite

Ship-owning and management group Lomar’s corporate venture lab, lomarlabs, has signed a collaboration agreement with maritime tech start-up CargoKite to develop a new ship class of micro ships using AI for autonomous operation, with large kite systems as the main method of propulsion.

The vessel’s AI-powered route planner will be designed to calculate optimal routes and determine estimated arrival times based on actual weather conditions, using the CargoKite technology developed as a spin-off from Munich’s Technical University.

The first ships under the project are due to be launched in 2027.

“This radical new ship type has the potential to reframe the way port and maritime logistics are organized,” said Stylianos Papageorgiou, Managing Director of lomarlabs.

“It brings a paradigm shift to operations, which is only now becoming possible thanks to advances made in automation technologies. In addition, it promises to be a groundbreaking decarbonization solution for shipping.”

CargoKite’s latest prototype has already demonstrated its technology in use at sea, with a proof of concept on a nine-metre catamaran equipped with a kite system and hydrofoils completed in 2023.