Wärtsilä has announced that it has acquired Transas, the digital solutions provider headquartered in the UK.

Transas is a global market leader in marine navigation solutions that include complete bridge systems, digital solutions and electronic charts. The company is also a leader in professional training and simulation services, ship traffic control, as well as monitoring, and decision-support tools. Transas leverages the latest advances in machine learning to create a unified cloud-based platform for managing operations across the entire marine ecosystem. The company has 22 regional offices worldwide and a distribution network that spans 120 countries. Its workforce of approximately 1000 employees includes a large and competent team of engineers who, together with Wärtsilä’s team, will accelerate the development of smart digital products.

“It is incredibly exciting to have this opportunity to join the Wärtsilä brand in delivering the future of maritime transport. The Transas team has significant competences in technology, along with a globally recognized leadership position in navigation, simulation and traffic control systems. Adding these to the extensive, world leading Wärtsilä portfolio of services and products, provides an unparalleled opportunity for a new ecosystem for maritime operations,” says Frank Coles, CEO of Transas.

Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine Ecosystem is a vision whereby smart vessels connect with smart ports and beyond to deliver three fundamental industry benefits: maximising the use of resources and operational efficiency, minimising environmental impact and risk, and achieving the highest levels of safety and security.

Through data integration, greater connectivity and cloud-based technology, Wärtsilä aims to resolve inefficiencies in the shipping sector resulting from overcapacity, sub-optimal fuel consumption, and waiting times at ports and other high-traffic areas.

“Combining Transas with Wärtsilä will bring the Smart Marine Ecosystem many steps forward. We can now connect Wärtsilä’s product portfolio, the biggest in the Marine industry, with Ship Traffic Control, Simulators, Navigation solutions and fleet operation solutions from Transas. The combined package will further improve the way a vessel can sail in the most cost efficient and environmental friendly way for our customers,” says Roger Holm, President, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.