Like CES for maritime… San Diego welcomed the world’s leading marine science and ocean technology exhibition and conference this week. Oceanology International (OI) – launched in London in 1969 – kicked off its first North American conference at the San Diego Convention Center, bringing together more than 1,500 attendees and 150 maritime technology companies from more than 13 countries. Led by The Maritime Alliance and with the support of EDC, OI will be a biennial event in San Diego, switching to London in off-years.
The tradeshow connected companies and consumers from across the world, and served to help improve strategies for developing, protecting and operating in the world’s oceans.
Why San Diego?
With 70 miles of coastline, a concentrated military presence and innovation-driven technology companies, San Diego has emerged as a hub for maritime technology. Driving this point home, local companies large and small set up shop at Oceanology International North America – from Ocean Aero with its unmanned surface and underwater vehicles to SonTek with its underwater sensors, or Planck Aerosystems that can land an aerial drone autonomously on a moving vessel. Attendees got first-hand access to current and impending innovation in maritime and bluetech.