TalTech’s Marine Technology Competence Center develops new autonomous maritime technologies
This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 4 2025.
Research into naval architecture and marine technologies is important for Estonia with its long coastline, maritime border with Russia, and freezing winters. Environmental and security concerns will both be addressed at a new interdisciplinary centre of excellence for marine technologies.
At the Tallinn University of Technology in Kuressaare, Estonia, a research institution is developing modern, adaptive solutions and technologies for the nation’s marine environment. The Marine Technology Competence Center (MARTE) is at the forefront of researching stable and secure marine technologies, pursuing projects that range from scaling modern maritime vessels, to simulating Baltic ice formations, to autonomously monitoring fish ecosystems.
Ship design and performance are among the important research areas
Established in 2011, the university’s -marine-based initiatives combine state-of-the-art engineering with environmental monitoring. Since its creation, MARTE has been rooted in marine and maritime development and innovation. In addition to MARTE, Kuressaare college hosts a biomass valorisation laboratory. Professor Kristjan Tabri, Programme Director, explains that the main focus of the institution is applied research on naval architecture and marine technology, both to serve industrial partners who wish to develop a new product or technology, and to advance Estonia’s capabilities in various areas, such as ship design and performance. One of the projects that MARTE works on concerns testing marine vessels in extreme weather conditions. The institute, utilising a 60-meter model test basin, analyses various vessels under simulated wave, pressure, and impact scenarios to evaluate their structural integrity and stability.
Analysis of climatic conditions impact on vessels
Technologies like maritime radars, cameras, and sensors help to interpret the sea conditions and adjust the vessel in challenging environments. Such -autonomous or semi-autonomous behaviour is important for the performance of service vessels, like rescue boats, or ships crossing waters known to be hazardous. Beyond ship construction, MARTE also analyses maritime conditions themselves, working to manage the relationship between difficult environmental conditions, like ice and wind, and ships. In Estonia where coastal waters are sometimes ice covered in winter this research is critical for naval construction and engineering. Recent research involves creating software to identify the different ice types that a vessel may encounter. By uploading hundreds of images of different ice types—intact or broken—the software works to identify the types of ice near the maritime vessel in real time so that it may respond appropriately to the changing conditions. Prof. Tabri admits, however, that this -technology is still in its developmental stages. It’s kind of a niche market, obviously, he says. It’s quite tedious work, but the market is the vessels that have to operate in ice, and this work could ultimately contribute to the development of unmanned icebreakers.
Physical tests have some advantages over computer simulations
The institute mainly carries out model testing of various kinds. Structures are tested in the basin for their design, -hydromechanics, stability, and seakeeping behaviour among other parameters. Marine technology i.e. systems dealing with situational awareness and vessel control, are also tested with the aim of investigating their suitability for autonomous or near autonomous vessels. Moreover, the institute has the facilities to test materials. Many of the tests can be done with numerical simulations on a computer, says Ruttar Teär, the Head of Research Infrastructure Laboratories, but it is better to do physical testing in real waves to understand how a vessel moves in the waves, or how the structure reacts to slamming in the water.
Age Teär (left), Coordinator of Knowledge Transfer, and Ruttar Teär, Head of
Research Infrastructure Laboratories, Marine Technology Competence Center (MARTE)
Despite focusing primarily on maritime vessel development, MARTE also works to support marine ecosystems and develop autonomous technologies to support sustainable fishing and the persistence of Estonia’s aquatic life. To do this, various institutions and laboratories under the university come together to contribute to marine research under an umbrella structure called the Center of Excellence on Marine -Technologies and Data Intelligence, says Ruttar Teär. We aim to identify, forecast, and manage the short and long-term effects of human activities on maritime ecosystems, where we look both at the environmental aspects as well as at the security implications. To some extent, the information that we all have to gather is quite similar, he continues. With something like underwater noise, for example, you could identify certain maritime activities, but also why the fish are leaving a certain area. The shared data and experimentation help to draw relationships among the researchers of the university, consolidating resources and bringing together the various units. The new Centre of Excellence concept is proceeding quite well and allows us to reduce fragmentation within the university, Prof. Tabri says, as there are so many units who would deal with some marine aspects, so it would make sense to do it together.
Lily Pampolina, Eurofish,
lily@eurofish.dk