Maritime Startups

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Startups have their foundation in innovative ideas and technology. The common conception of a startup brings the IT sector to mind, but there is a lot of demand for startups in the maritime sector as well. In our next report we introduce some business ideas that search for value in the high seas.

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This is a video about an unmanned vessel recently unveiled by a British firm. The key to realizing remote control is smooth communication between the unmanned vessel on the sea and the base station on land. With current technology, it is costly to make this happen because satellites are necessary when unmanned vessels are navigating far away from land. A new startup firm in Busan has offered an alternative. By establishing a network of the Internet of things, the firm has developed a way to communicate with a vessel some 100 kilometers away from land.

[Soundbite] Gang Hee-wuk(CEO, Harbor Max) : "We developed a low-cost system of providing a base station that allows numerous vessels to have good quality Internet access at an affordable cost."

Another firm has developed a vaccine that can prevent outbreaks of diseases at large scale fish farms through a simple method. These entities are so-called maritime startups searching for economic value in the ocean.

[Soundbite] Lee Bong-sun(President of Event Organizer) : "Marine biology, GPS and even maritime financial technology firms are attending the event. I believe there is great growth potential."

The firms will receive follow-up support in investment to help them grow into Korea's leading marine enterprises.