Lloyd’s Register acquires OTG to expand digital solutions across a 30,000-plus vessel fleet

September 3, 2024, by Sara Kosmajac

UK-based Lloyd’s Register (LR), a provider of maritime services and digital solutions, has finalized an agreement to acquire Ocean Technologies Group (OTG), a human capital management and operational software company, from European private equity firm Oakley Capital. This purchase will reportedly allow LR to offer OTG’s solutions to a fleet of over 30,000 vessels.

Lloyd's Register has acquired a digital solutions company, OTG. Illustration: Lloyd's Register.

The acquisition, which will be subject to obtaining customary regulatory approvals and is projected to take place in Q4 of 2024, is said to represent a ‘significant milestone’ both for LR, and OTG—a provider of ‘critical training, compliance, operational and HR software to shipowners, operators and seafarers.’

For LR, acquiring OTG comes after another acquisition from two years ago; namely, in 2022, LR acquired OneOcean, a voyage compliance, safety and environmental solutions supplier. This enabled LR to ‘complement’ its existing digital solutions. What is more, the following year, LR purchased a 50% stake in ISF Watchkeeper alongside the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

LR’s acquisition of OTG is expected to allow LR to offer an end-to-end transition solution—from advisory and feasibility studies on alternative fuels to the training and development of seafarers on the handling and use of such fuels.

A report commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Taskforce—a sectoral task force that seeks to ‘strengthen and coordinate’ collaboration toward a ‘safe and equitable approach to decarbonization—estimated that up to 800,000 seafarers would require training on alternative fuels and new engines by the mid-2030s to cope with the rising needs of the maritime industry.

Chief Executive Officer of LR, Nick Brown, called this recent move by LR a ‘transformative acquisition’ that ‘reinforces LR’s focus on maritime.’

“The purchase of OneOcean in 2022 gave us the digital capability to support and optimize the safe and compliant operations of vessels and now with the acquisition of OTG, we will be able to provide a strategic approach to attracting, developing, managing and retaining maritime professionals at sea and ashore,” he highlighted.

“Becoming a part of Lloyd’s Register is a great opportunity to further extend our global leadership in maritime which we have built with the support of Oakley. It allows us to rapidly expand our capabilities within an organization that aligns perfectly with our mission, vision and values as we support our industry toward a digital and sustainable future,” Thomas Zanzinger, CEO of OTG, added. “I am truly excited to unlock the potential of what this combination of our brands can achieve together for our clients.”

In the long run, according to LR, the aim will be to combine OTG with its digital business, LR OneOcean, to create ‘one of the largest’ software platforms in maritime and help speed up the digital transformation of the industry.

This effort aligns with a recent study published by Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), which made apparent the gaps in the maritime industry’s digitalization. Specifically, the study highlighted that a lack of a ‘universally adopted digital platform’ has been leading toward interoperability challenges and creating hurdles on the way to net-zero.