Cargill and Neptune Robotics have signed an 18-month partnership to deploy AI-powered hull-cleaning robots on Cargill's bulk carriers calling at the Port of Singapore. The deal runs under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's In-Water Hull Inspection & Cleaning Innovation Programme, which selected Neptune in April 2026 as one of six participants tasked with proving out robotic alternatives to diver-based hull cleaning.
Neptune's flagship robot, MAGNETO, has already demonstrated the work by cleaning a Panamax bulk carrier at Singapore East Anchorage. The company says its remotely operated vehicles can clean a full-draft capesize vessel's hull within 24 hours, operate against currents of up to 4 knots, and work day or night in clear or murky water.
Why does hull cleaning matter for shipping emissions?
Biofouling, the buildup of algae, barnacles and other marine growth on a ship's hull, increases drag and can push a vessel's greenhouse gas emissions up by as much as 30%, according to figures cited in the partnership announcement. Regular robotic cleaning keeps hulls smoother, which lowers fuel burn and emissions without requiring any changes to the ship itself.
Cargill, one of the world's largest dry bulk operators, has worked with Neptune for more than four years and says the new program will let it evaluate cleaning efficiency and operating procedures more systematically, feeding data back into Neptune's robot and software development, including Vision-Language-Action models that guide how the machines interpret hull surfaces.
How big is Neptune's operation, and why is this deal notable?
Neptune Robotics runs services in 61 ports across Singapore and China and says its network already covers roughly 70% of major global trade routes. The company raised a $52 million Series B round led by Granite Asia in September 2025 and, in April 2026, said it would invest $12 million in a new Singapore factory to support a five-fold increase in autonomous hull cleanings.
The Cargill deal is significant less for its size than for its structure: it is a government-backed pilot designed to generate the inspection and cleaning data regulators and insurers need before robotic hull cleaning can replace diver-based work at scale. Competing approaches include diver teams, dry-dock cleaning and other ROV operators, but few have Neptune's combination of port coverage and a multi-year industrial customer like Cargill feeding back real-world performance data.
What happens next in the 18-month program?
Over the partnership term, Cargill and Neptune will track cleaning efficiency, operating procedures and the quality of data the robots generate, with results feeding into the MPA's broader assessment of robotic hull services. Neptune CEO Elizabeth Chan said the goal is proving that "robotic cleaning is ready to deliver safely, consistently and at scale," while Cargill's Asia-Pacific vice president Ying Ying Lim framed the work as part of the company's push toward vessel efficiency and supply-chain decarbonization.
If the pilot succeeds, it could accelerate adoption of robotic hull cleaning across Singapore's port, one of the world's busiest, and give Neptune a template to replicate with other bulk operators and ports in the region.