Prysmian Group and Giancarlo Pedote launch Sailing4Ocean project

Prysmian Group together with Giancarlo Pedote have announced the launch of the Sailing4Ocean project, in partnership with the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC) to monitor the state of the oceans' health using the Group’s proprietary PRY-CAM technology.

Thanks to the contribution of the CMCC advanced scientific research, it will allow to monitor the health of the oceans using ai algorithms and the Group’s patented sensing technologies

Developed primarily for electric power applications, the PRY-CAM technology is based on AI algorithms and on the Group’s patented sensing technologies. It is extremely flexible and it can be used everywhere there is a need to collect quantitatively measurable data.

Pedote’s Prysmian Group IMOCA has been equipped with sensors — designed in partnership with EOSS, the Electronics and Optical Sensing Solutions Division of Prysmian Group, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC) — able to collect data relating to various parameters in the geographical areas of navigation. When sailing, the data measured by the sensors is collected, digitised and transmitted to CMCC via the PRY-CAM MINILOG devices, which acquire data in analogue mode and transfer it to the boat's transmission devices in MOD-BUS digital mode.

More specifically, the data collected refers to: the boat’s GPS position, boat speed, ambient CO2 concentration, ambient atmospheric pressure, water temperature on the boat’s two sides and keel bulb, temperature inside the boat, ambient humidity, ambient dew point and ambient irradiation.

The test navigation carried out in August 2022 was the first major test and sensors reacted positively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the installation solutions adopted to withstand the high stresses to which they are subjected during navigation.

The data will then be analysed and validated by CMCC before being made available free of charge to the international scientific community through interactive marine-weather forecast applications, the Emodnet portal and the Copernicus Marine Service platforms, i.e., the European Union’s set of Earth observation systems dedicated to monitoring our planet and its environment for the benefit of all European citizens. The same data will also be used by the CoastPredict programme which, as part of the UNESCO Decade of Ocean Science, redefines the coastal sea forecasts and observations on a global scale so that science can respond in an increasingly effective and timely manner to the needs of society.

In particular, the data collected by the Prysmian Group IMOCA boat will be used by the UN Ocean Decade project PredictOnTime to provide new services, products and marine forecasting capabilities based on innovative and integrated systems at global level. The data acquisition and transmission system will allow information to be collected in geographical areas of the globe not easily accessible with traditional data collection devices and monitoring to be carried out of the state of health of the waters that will be crossed by Giancarlo Pedote, during his next great challenge: the Vendée Globe 2024.

Giancarlo Pedote sailor said:

“Knowing that every time I train or compete I contribute to the ocean’s preservation is for me an additional motivation. Knowing that I can do this thanks to the support of my main sponsor, which has accompanied me for 17 years, and of an important institution like CMCC is something that goes even further: I feel even more accompanied in every one of my solo navigations."

Giovanni Coppini, Director of CMCC’s Ocean Predictions and Applications Division, stated:

"Sea forecasting and the collection of data on which the CMCC advanced and multidisciplinary scientific research is based constitute a crucial frontier for ensuring the sustainable development of societies and economic activities, as this cannot ignore the protection of coasts and marine ecosystems. This collaboration with Prysmian Group and Giancarlo Pedote is very important for us because, on the one hand, it underlines the importance of close interaction between industry, the world of technological innovation, sports and scientific research for the sustainability of the sea. On the other hand, CMCC’s contribution ensures that the data collected will assume a highly operational function at global level, will be used to improve our knowledge of the sea and to produce increasingly detailed and accurate global, regional and coastal marine forecasts, which will be made available to decision-makers, businesses, societies and citizens through the applications developed by CMCC and used in European and non-European international contexts.”