Gunvor, one of the world’s largest commodities traders, has made an equity investment in a Northern Irish ship technology venture led by double Olympic champion sailor Iain Percy.
The Swiss trader is understood to have spent millions of US dollars for a minority stake in Artemis Technologies, which is leading the development of zero-emissions ferries in Belfast.
“Artemis Technologies is working on a number of compelling innovations that will help decarbonise the maritime sector at a time when there is growing demand for low-carbon alternatives,” said Gunvor co-founder and chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist.
Artemis Technologies is a spin-off of the Artemis Racing sailing team, established in 2006 by Tornqvist, who is a keen sailor.
The venture was originally launched to focus on yacht design and technology, drawing on the expertise of the sailing team’s design division in simulation, lightweight structure engineering, electronics, hydraulics, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics.
Later, Artemis Technologies formed a consortium to develop 350-passenger, high-speed ferries powered by an electric hydrofoil propulsion system.
The Belfast Maritime Consortium — comprising Artemis Technologies, Belfast Harbour, Bombardier and 10 other companies, academia and local public bodies — won a £33m ($44.8m) innovation grant from the UK government this June for the zero-emissions shipping project.
Artemis Technologies expects the consortium partners to make further investment and the total project cost to reach nearly £60m over the next four years.
“With approximately 30% of ship emissions coming from domestic voyages, the maritime sector is under pressure to develop and adopt new disruptive innovations,” said Percy, chief executive of Artemis Technologies.
“This means that reducing emissions on smaller domestic fleets, which typically make these shorter journeys, will be key in meeting net-zero goals,” added the gold medallist from the Sydney and Beijing Olympics.
Once mature, the zero-emissions propulsion system in the ferry project could be adopted by offshore energy platforms.
Gunvor, a top player in oil trading, has been seeking to move into cleaner energy in recent quarters.
The company secured a $540m loan facility from Citibank, Unicredit and some other banks earlier this month to expand its biodiesel trading activity.
“Gunvor has committed to reduce the carbon footprint of the commodities we’re trading and our industrial processes, as well as to explore relevant commercial opportunities,” Tornqvist said.
“There is no silver bullet to the climate change issue. Many solutions are needed.”
