Icelandic start-up Marorka, which provides marine energy management solutions for cruisers, freighters and fishing vessels, is planning to hire 20 engineers, electricians, and computer and electronics specialists in the coming 12 months, thus doubling their number of employees.

An Icelandic fishing vessel. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.

The purpose of Marorka’s solutions is to reduce the amount of oil used for fueling these vessels and, consequently, reducing the level of pollution, RÚV reports.

When asked about the reasons for Marorka’s growth, CEO Jón Ágúst Thorsteinsson explained that the EU is calling for regulations obligating ships and airplanes to reduce their oil usage by 20 percent.

“That has prompted shipping and fishing companies to start preparing for these regulations and we are ready with the technology—which we have been developing for the past ten years—and we are the only company in the world able to hand it over now,” Thorsteinsson stated.

“So Marorka is receiving almost ten times as many requests as it did a few weeks ago,” Thorsteinsson said. Marorka’s main market is in Norway, but its technological solutions are also being sold to other European countries and to North America.

“I find the future of Icelandic start-ups extremely bright,” Thorsteinsson added. “They are unfolding now. It was difficult to survive here when the finance sector was going at full speed and many government-organized projects were being executed, which led to the [Icelandic] króna being very strong. The export industry in its entirety suffered as a result.”

Click here to read more about Marorka.