The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced that Marakeb Technologies will become the first anchor company to develop maritime applications in the Emirate’s new smart and autonomous vehicle industry (SAVI) cluster. Centred in Masdar City, the cluster provides state-of-the art facilities and value-added services within an enabling regulatory environment to support innovation and the commercialisation of advanced technologies for air, land, and sea mobility applications.

Marakeb is a leading autonomous technology provider for aerial, ground, and marine applications that has developed and manufactured solutions in the UAE for the past 15 years. It will bring immediate scale to the cluster’s maritime capabilities.

Badr Al Olama, Acting Director-General of Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), said, “The next phase of Abu Dhabi’s industrial development has arrived. The Emirate’s SAVI cluster launches with immediate scale and will bring about a new wave of solutions in the field of autonomy across air, land and sea. The addition of companies like Marakeb will also be a catalyst for the growth of related industries, both within and beyond the cluster, boosting the local industrial base and knowledge economy.”

Marakeb will be able to test new technologies at the cluster’s sea testing zone in Mussafah Port, which houses a port and the Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy. The company, which currently exports to over 10 countries, will also benefit from the cluster’s global logistics integration.

“The establishment of the SAVI cluster is a monumental step in providing a local platform to advance the autonomous technology ecosystem and in demonstrating Abu Dhabi’s continued commitment to investments in advanced technologies. As a UAE company, Marakeb will support the development and growth of the cluster by providing its autonomous solutions and technical knowledge to enable the next generation of smart vehicle solutions,” Basel Shuhaiber, Chief Executive Officer, Marakeb Technologies.

Abu Dhabi is developing an extensive multi-modal cluster designed to transform the direction of smart and autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea. SAVI will house academia, sandboxes, R&D labs, testing and certification facilities, large-scale workshops, hangars, manufacturing facilities, and global logistics integration. Underpinning all operations are the local regulators establishing an enabling regulatory framework across air, land, and sea applications.