Oceans are vast, posing challenges for governments, shipping companies, and insurance providers to monitor them effectively. Modern ships often lack advanced technology and efficient software for data analysis. Quartermaster, a startup from Arlington, Virginia, aims to address this issue with its “SmartMast” solution. SmartMast is a set of weather-resistant sensors, including cameras and radios, installed on a ship’s mast to provide real-time maritime data. Combined with an analytics platform, it forms a continuous, distributed sensing network across numerous ships.
SmartMast surpasses the current AIS standard, which primarily consists of basic location pings and is susceptible to fraud, as stated by Neil Sobin, CEO and founder of Quartermaster. He highlights the vulnerabilities of AIS, noting its opt-in nature allows for data manipulation and spoofing. Recently, Sobin secured a $43 million Series A funding round, co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, to further develop Quartermaster’s technology.
Bill Trenchard, partner at First Round, praised the potential of Quartermaster to transform maritime intelligence by overcoming the cost barriers of traditional bespoke hardware. Currently, over 600 ships equipped with SmartMast have monitored 10 million square miles of ocean. The system supports various applications including ship identification, data collection for marine autonomy, and providing insights for governments.
Quartermaster’s technology has also facilitated over 20 sea rescues, demonstrating its practical benefits. Sobin emphasizes the company’s commitment to mariners, creating incentives for collaboration, which strengthens their network. The recent funding will be used to hire engineers to advance the technology, with Sobin noting the significant impact engineers can make in the largely unexplored domain of oceanic computer vision tasks.