there is a dutch startup called roboat thats working on autonomous boats for transportation of humans. Eventually we will also have autonomous Cargo ships
By coincidence, they also had an experiment in Amsterdam.
Note: Friends of me.
- Their IOT big data platform ( Atlantis - https://www.dotocean.eu/products/atlantis/)
- Dredging canals cheaper
- Autonomous boats
- Underwater soil detection with a probe
I'm not really sure if there is a specific focus on open waters though, but i don't think so.
tell your friends I'm rooting for them thats an interesting project