SeaCras has been selected as one of only 20 space tech startups in Europe to join the CASSINI Business Accelerator Batch 6. This is notably a big success for Croatia, as SeaCras is the first domestic company ever to enter this program.
Through the CASSSINI Business Accelerator program, DG DEFIS, is supporting us in strengthening our capabilities in marine environmental monitoring, regenerative blue economy solutions, and climate security.
The programme will include hands-on work with space industry top experts and stakeholders, while building the case for large investments and closing deals with industry leaders and tech giants.
SeaCras’ short-term goal is global expansion, and the Cassini Accelerator — together with the EU Space and EUSPA networks — is the foundation to confidently move in that direction.
Cassini Business Accelerator & Space Tech Expo in Bremen
The CASSINI Business Accelerator Batch 6 got off to an impressive start in Bremen, coinciding with the start of Space Tech Expo Europe 2025, Europe’s largest B2B space-industry event that began on 18 November and ran through 20 November.
Our Head of Communications, Ana Čupić, and our GIS Analyst, Robert Šulc, took part in the Batch 6 kick-off with 19 other innovative companies and outstanding coaches. They participated in workshops, speed-dating and matchmaking sessions, and hands-on sales training.
These interactive days in Bremen showed how quickly the European space community is growing and how powerful it can be when industry leaders connect with emerging companies. And some of these companies will undoubtedly become tomorrow’s industry giants.
This marks the beginning of an exciting and transformative six-month journey, and we are grateful to be part of it.
We are our best to our colleagues from the remaining 19 companies participating in Cassini Batch 6 alongside SeaCras.
SeaCras took part in the International Cruise Summit 2025 in Madrid (November 18-19), where our CEO, Mario Špadina, delivered a talk and presentation on the growing importance of early warning systems within pollution monitoring for the cruising industry. In his session, titled The Future of Cruising: Early Warning Systems for Ocean Preservation, Mario outlined practical strategies that cruise operators can implement to detect environmental risks earlier, strengthen operational resilience, and support long-term ocean preservation efforts.
The audience was made of high-level representatives in the cruising industry, ranging from executives, port operations and environmental officers, as well as policy and strategy decision makers (including CLIA), regional governments, and national officials.
The discussions that followed the session reflected a clear shift across the industry: sustainability is no longer viewed as an optional initiative but a central requirement for future growth and regulatory compliance in global cruising.
Mario’s lecture focused on the following areas:
Extension of unregulated or poorly controlled pollutants — beyond MARPOL
The shift to new fuels (LNG, methanol, ammonia, H₂) and abatement tech can create unregulated or poorly controlled pollutants. (e.g., NH₃/N₂O slip, CH₄ slip, UFP, BC)
Non-regulated pollution types:
Underwater noise when approaching the coastline,
Sediment dispersion, especially near shallow coral or seagrass habitats.
The technologies that were demonstrated focused on the following classes:
Sensing & measurement technologies:
Biological & biodiversity sensors (eDNA, biosensors, plankton/fish imaging, microbial sensors) – Alien and invasive species detection and expansion identification
Acoustic & optical sensors (sonar, acoustic tomography, lidar, optical cameras) — use case: underwater security threats in extended port areas
Observation platforms & vehicles:
Satellites & aerial platforms (Earth observation satellites, CubeSats, HAPS, drones) — use case: EMSA sniffer drone to monitor ship emissions
The lecture focused on outlining the requirements for future investment in next-generation technology.
Requirements:
Integrated data ecosystem
Interoperability and data standards
Predictive analytics layer
Secure and scalable cloud infrastructure
Finally, Mario, as an expert in the field, and advisor to multiple bodies of EU Commission, as well as international and regional companies and initiatives, shared his overview of where science is now with development of new methodologies and technologies:
Real-time demonstration of onboard, tamper-proof, remote measurement techniques for a wide range of pollutants
Development of an automatic reporting and verification system
Identification of real-world releases of harmful substances that are currently not regulated, and excessive releases of substances already regulated, both in open seas and in-port operations
Transparent data sharing
SeaCras CEO’s talk on ocean preservation at the International Cruise Summit 2025 was also covered by one of Croatia’s most reputable business media outlets, Poslovni Dnevnik. Their report highlighted the significance of the company’s contribution to discussions on pollution monitoring, early warning systems, and the future of sustainable cruising, further underscoring SeaCras’ role as a leading innovator in marine environmental protection.
We are extremely proud to see its advanced tools, satellite-based insights, and data-driven capabilities play a meaningful role in helping the sector accelerate this transition toward more responsible and sustainable maritime operations.
In the age of digital transformation and climate urgency, the maritime sector stands at a crossroads. Are “smart” and “green” ports two sides of the same coin – or competing paradigms? The answer, as emerging global trends suggest, lies in their complementarity.
From Smart to Sustainable
Smart ports use digital technologies, automation, and analytics to improve efficiency, safety, and logistics.
Green ports focus on environmental sustainability, reducing emissions, using renewable energy sources, and ensuring environmentally friendly operations.
Set theory question: is a green port a subset of a smart port?
Traditionally, these concepts evolved separately. Smart ports focused on optimisation, green ports on preservation.
But today’s leading maritime hubs — from Rotterdam and Singapore to Hamburg, Los Angeles, Miami, and Osaka — show that technology and ecology can reinforce each other rather than compete.
SeaCras’ CEO, Mario Špadina, held this lecture at the Croatian Port Days conference in Dubrovnik, March 27-28, 2025
The Convergence: When Data Meets Decarbonisation
The convergence of smart and green principles is redefining how ports operate.
Digitalisation enables precise energy management, predictive maintenance, and emissions tracking. Automation reduces idle times and fuel consumption. Data analytics and digital twins provide real-time insights that help optimise vessel movements, cargo handling, and infrastructure use — all while reducing the carbon footprint.
In practice, digital twins represent the next frontier, or they did 5 years ago. Now these should be benchmark already, if for nothing, then for derisking operations of port areas. These virtual replicas of port systems integrate all available data — from IoT sensors to physics-based simulations — creating a unified digital ecosystem. By mirroring real-world conditions, digital twins support decision-making, improve asset management, and align operational performance with sustainability goals.
“The modern trend is the convergence of smart and green principles, where technology enables sustainable port operations — creating efficient and environmentally responsible maritime hubs.” (Source: Critical Success Factors for Green Port Transformation Using Digital Technology, JMSE, 2024)
Navigating the Digital Seas: Cybersecurity as Sustainability
However, this digital-green synergy comes with new challenges. The more connected a port becomes, the more vulnerable it is to cyber-attacks. Ransomware, supply chain vulnerabilities, and geopolitical risks represent tangible threats, with potential economic losses exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars.
As the maritime sector accelerates its digital shift, cyber resilience becomes part of environmental responsibility. Protecting digital infrastructure means safeguarding operational continuity — and by extension, reducing the environmental costs of disruption.
Toward Ports of the Future
The port of the future will not be defined solely by its cranes or terminals, but by its data flows, carbon metrics, and resilience frameworks.
AI, automation, and sustainability will not exist in silos, but within an integrated strategy that aligns economic efficiency, security, and ecological balance.
In this sense, the question “Smart or Green?” becomes obsolete. The future belongs to ports that are both — simultaneously intelligent and sustainable.
We’ve entered a strong partnership with cross-border water protection as the main goal. More precisely, climate security of lakes and rivers across the Balkan Peninsula. This collaboration marks an important step toward safeguarding shared water resources, strengthening regional cooperation, and advancing data-driven environmental protection efforts across borders.
A quadrilateral partnership has been formalised between three key national institutions in North Macedonia — the Hydrometeorological Service (HMS), the State Inspectorate for Environment and the University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola (UKLO) — and SeaCras.
This agreement marks a big step forward in aligning scientific research, satellite and AI technologies, and institutional knowledge and operative capacity for the protection of cross-border water bodies that are key resources shared among multiple countries in the Balkan region.
And the phrase ‘sharing is caring’ takes on a whole new meaning in this case:
Both pollution and security threats are shared among countries.
Water scarcity and climate-change boosted issues make these water reservoirs vulnerable.
This partnership aims at long-term capacity building of all partners, and its key goals are:
transfer of knowledge based on open science policy
technology implementation and data sharing
high-level actionable planning of early-warning and response
and most importantly: bringing people together for a common goal – climate security of water resources
In particular, for Balkan region, there is an urgent need for implementing a Disaster Management System for the cross – border water protection — specifically, lakes in Ohrid and Prespa region.
Aleksandar Ivanov, professor at UKLO and Mario Špadina, CEO at SeaCras
Requirements for climate security of cross-border lakes:
First enabling system implementation and data integration;
Implement advanced trend and risk analysis models;
Develop a pollution source fingerprint program.
Enabling forecasting and Early Warning Actions based on the developed forecast models for specific threats which is a base for an Early Warning System.
Response and Mitigation actions – when a disaster is forecast or occurs, what actions and scenarios should be implemented.
This new partnership shows how cross-border collaboration, the combination of data-driven innovation, and public expertise can make a real difference in addressing today’s environmental challenges.
