Finland headquartered Groke Technologies is expanding its commercial and marketing teams to meet growing interest in its pioneering digital sensor technology across the international shipping industry.

The decision to appoint a trio of sales professionals, all of whom have a collective 60 years of maritime industry experience, follows the successful 2022 introduction of the company’s ground-breaking Groke Pro Situational Awareness System across Japan’s domestic shipping fleet.

Jan Thordan Hansen and Jonas Bergring have joined newly appointed Head of Global Sales Marc van der Meij to increase awareness and adoption of Groke Technologies’ ship safety solutions across all sectors of the maritime industry.

In welcoming them to the Turku-based company, co-founder and CEO Juha Rokka said: “Jonas and Jan bring a wealth of commercial maritime experience to Groke Technologies. Their appointment is very much part of our strategy to target more international customers, following two years of product research and development and subsequent commercial success in Japan.”

Jonas Bergring held senior sales and business development positions with Wärtsilä and Eniram prior to joining Groke Technologies as Chief Commercial Officer. Capt. Jan Thordon Hansen, meanwhile, joins Groke as a consultant sales executive, having spent more 30 years in senior leadership roles with Sperry Marine, a Northrop Grumman company. Prior to that, Mr. Hansen was a master mariner sailing with DFDS.

Chief Commercial Officer Jonas Bergring, said: “I am delighted to be joining a company that has the capability to take the industry to unprecedented levels of safety, efficiency and crew wellbeing by deploying the latest technology. There are about 80,000 ships in the global fleet that can benefit from Groke Technologies’ solutions so I am very excited about our mission.”

Capt. Jan Thordan Hansen added: “As a former master mariner, Groke’s state-of-the-art technology has the capacity to revolutionise ship safety and efficiency by helping bridge officers overcome the challenges in navigating congested or difficult shipping lanes. With increasing use of digital shipping technology, combined with a shortage of experienced officers and crew, we anticipate that integrated ship situational awareness technology will be a mandatory requirement by 2030.”

The maritime industry shows great interest towards safety and efficiency improving technology

Commenting further on the potential market, Marc van der Meij, who joined Groke Technologies last September, said: “We are seeing growing market interest in advanced sensor technology and Groke Pro has entered the international market at exactly the right time. We can leverage on the success we have had with Japanese shipowners to make a significant contribution to maritime safety.”

With about 75% of all marine accidents, groundings and collisions caused by human error or insufficient use of ships’ radar systems, Groke Pro gives watchkeepers an unrivalled view and awareness of the vessel surroundings, combining cameras, Radar and AIS.

“It gives greater visibility to watchkeepers allowing them to detect any navigational hazards and objects in real time, even during night-time operations or other low-visibility situations such as fog or heavy rain” said Mr. van der Meij. “It also increases the wellbeing of crew members by reducing stress and fatigue from information overload.”

All data from sensors and cameras available via one easy-to-read visual display, which can be viewed anywhere on the vessel, not just on the bridge. The simple-to-install system also includes a risk analysis tool to detect potential collision courses.