Presight Signs Deal With US Firm Quartermaster to Build AI Maritime Surveillance Tools

The agreement was signed at ADIPEC, the energy exhibition and conference in Abu Dhabi, and sets out a framework rather than a contract. Under it, the two companies will look at combining Quartermaster's distributed sensing technology with Presight's AI, analytics and intelligence platforms for what they described as mission-critical operations. Neither side disclosed financial terms.

The deal takes Presight further into maritime domain awareness, a field that matters to Gulf governments, port operators and offshore energy producers that depend on busy sea lanes. The companies said the work would examine ways to track vessels, detect unusual activity, give early warning of potential threats and protect critical offshore assets, with port operators and maritime security agencies among the intended users.

Quartermaster's SmartMast system is designed to convert existing commercial vessels into nodes in a distributed sensor network. According to the companies, it uses optical, infrared and radio-frequency sensors together with edge AI, meaning data is processed on board, to collect and analyse information about activity at sea. Presight's role would be to turn that stream of data into intelligence that operators can act on.

Neil Sobin, Quartermaster's chief executive, said the oceans remain among the hardest places in the world to monitor continuously and in real time. He said the company's approach of turning working ships into a sensor network gives an objective view of activity along some of the world's busiest trade routes and around offshore energy projects. "By combining this sensing network with Presight's advanced AI and analytics capabilities, we can turn maritime data into actionable intelligence at scale," he said, according to the statement.

Dr Adel Al Sharji, Presight's chief operating officer, said maritime security increasingly depends on the ability to understand and respond to activity across vast and complex environments. He said the partnership brings together a new approach to maritime sensing and Presight's experience applying AI and analytics in critical operations, with the aim of improving situational awareness and the resilience of critical marine infrastructure.

Presight, which is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi AI group G42, has built much of its business on large-scale analytics and surveillance platforms for government and public-sector clients. A sea-based sensor network would extend that work beyond land and city systems to shipping lanes and offshore installations.

The memorandum is exploratory. The companies said they aim to develop scalable products that support operational readiness and national resilience, and that they intend to expand into other international markets as the partnership develops, after the initial UAE phase.