Prysmian Group announced today the launch of the Sailing4Ocean

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, together with Giancarlo Pedote, solo ocean sailor and skipper aboard of the Prysmian Group IMOCA, announced today 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.

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.

In light of the strong attention and commitment to issues relating to sustainability and the environment that identify its mission, Prysmian Group has enthusiastically taken up the technological challenge springing from this collaboration project, not only as sponsor, but also as technological partner to Giancarlo Pedote, providing its PRY-CAM technology. 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.

“When I spoke to Prysmian Group and CMCC about my desire to help protect the ocean by installing sensors on board the boat that could provide the scientific community with the data they need so much, I found myself in front of enthusiastic people, who immediately made their knowledge, their time and their passion in service of the project," said sailor Giancarlo Pedote. “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," he concludes.

“Prysmian Group's commitment to sustainability and safeguarding the planet is an important part of the entire Group’s daily work and aims to be increasingly tangible. This is why we have enthusiastically put our technology at the disposal of this valuable project. We know that we are living at a time when our actions are steered by the information we derive from interpreting data: the more objective the data, the greater the impact that it has on the decisions and actions we take,” stated Roberto Candela, CEO of EOSS – Electronics and Optical Sensing Solutions, Division of Prysmian Group. “We are proud to be able to put our technology at the service of science in order to acquire with the greatest possible precision data that will enable us to have an increasingly informed understanding of climate change and the impact that human action is having on our ecosystem.” 

"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," stated Giovanni Coppini, Director of CMCC’s Ocean Predictions and Applications Division. “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.”

“Sustainability is an integral part of our business, something we deal with every day,” highlighted Maria Cristina Bifulco, Chief Sustainability Officer & Group Investor Relations Director of Prysmian Group. “We have the privilege of operating in an industry that plays a major role in decarbonising and electrifying our system, but we are aware that our daily business operations are not enough. It is precisely for this reason that we are also committed daily to implementing projects that we deem particularly worthy of attention and in line with our company values. We have been supporting Giancarlo in his great endeavours for many years, as sailing embodies values that are key for us, such as ambition and the constant pursuit of new challenges, but also because wind and renewable energy represent an important part of our business. With this project, however, we want to go even beyond these values, putting a new 100% Italian technology at the disposal of the scientific community to be able to safeguard our planet and take a further step forward towards an increasingly sustainable future."