NEWS AND UPDATES

February 23, 2023

SEATTLE, WA — Washington Maritime Blue announces its fourth cohort, affectionately called the Fourth Wave, of the Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator. The four-month, mentor-based accelerator program brings together founders from Washington, the region, and beyond to learn new skills, connect with resources, and scale their work to develop ocean-based climate solutions and become the next big job creators for the state.

January 26, 2023

SEATTLE, WA — Washington Maritime Blue announces its first cohort of the One Ocean Innovation Accelerator, an intensive mentor-based twelve-week program focused on helping international maritime industry startups learn how to scale and grow an equitable and sustainable blue economy.

January 18, 2023

TACOMA, WA – Washington Maritime Blue’s Tacoma Maritime Innovation Incubator (TMII) is one of the twenty-two organizations that is an award recipient of a Small Business Innovation Fund from Washington State’s Department of Commerce.

January 17, 2023

Local maritime leaders Cailtin Hardy and Nico De Golia have been elected to the Board of Directors of Washington Maritime Blue bringing a depth of sustainable maritime industry perspectives and expertise.

January 13, 2023

We are thrilled to announce that Cassidy Fisher has been named the Program Director for Joint Innovation at Maritime Blue. Cassidy has been working on the joint innovation team since March 2022 as a project manager, bringing her skills to bear convening partnerships and building coalitions in the maritime industry. Cassidy will join the leadership team and continue to support members and partner organizations in the development and management of demonstration projects and strategic initiatives through a collaborative and whole systems design-process.  

December 1, 2022

2022 witnessed unparalleled developments in the blue economy. From commercial vessels voluntarily slowing down to protect endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, to more than X maritime startups graduating our accelerator programs, we saw the hard work and dedication of our community ripple across the maritime industry. 

November 7, 2022

Follow our President/CEO, Joshua Berger’s adventures aboard the Stratsraad Lehmkuhl on the One Ocean Expedition! He is sailing across the Indian Ocean from Singapore to Jakarta and Mauritius while engaging in research and discussion around ocean climate solutions and a sustainable blue economy.

TACOMA, WA – Meet the companies going through the next cohort of the Tacoma Maritime Innovation Incubator! The incubator selects companies that can provide innovation and jobs for communities in the southern reaches of Puget Sound, and is based at the Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma.

September 5, 2022

Learn more about the Accelerator fourth wave, Quiet Sound trial slowdown, and the return of Blue Drinks this fall! Want our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox each quarter? Sign up here.

LeAsia joins Maritime Blue with over ten years of experience serving BIPOC youth and young adults from underserved communities. LeAsia will join the Equity team as Youth Programs Manager where she will plan, develop, and implement youth programs and serve as mentor and leader to youth participants. 

August 10, 2022

2021-2022 has been a remarkable year of growth as our community strives toward a more sustainable & innovative Blue Economy. This is just the beginning. See our year in numbers and what’s ahead in the annual report.

June 29, 2022

We’ve been so busy, we forgot to write! Find out what we have been up to recently in our newly relaunched newsletter. Want our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox each quarter? Sign up here.

May 13, 2022

Washington Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator, the global resource to accelerate innovative solutions that benefit maritime and ocean economies, healthy marine and ocean ecosystems, and equitable and resilient communities, celebrates the eight startups from its third Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator. A showcase event will be held May 26, 2022 at the University of Washington to share the cohort’s new funding, product launches, and other milestones.

Washington Maritime Blue is excited to announce the expansion of our Joint Innovation Project (JIP) team with the addition of Cassidy Fisher. She is an experienced project manager driven by a desire to combat climate change. In her new role, she will work to advance the development and implementation of Joint Innovation Projects, as well as support stakeholder management and partnership building.

Washington Maritime Blue was chosen from more than 500 nationwide applicants for initial funding and is the only finalist from Washington State to now compete for once-in-a-generation funding of up to $100 million of $1 billion in the U.S. Department of Commerce EDA’s challenge.

Our Program Director, Josh Carter outlines some of the impact our accelerator has had over the past two years including some thoughts from our ecosystem partners. Check out the post by clicking the button on the left.

Workshop report for the September 15, 2021 “Maritime Electrification for Utilities Workshop” hosted by PNNL, MARAD, Washington Maritime Blue, and DNV.

Over our 2020-2021 fiscal year, Maritime Blue has focused on enriching program and project delivery, fostering leadership, and creating the necessary infrastructure to deliver on our mission.

Tacoma, WA – Finland’s Ambassador to the US, Mikko Hautala, visited the Center for Urban Waters and the Tacoma Maritime Innovation Incubator on September 14. Finland and Washington State have been in discussions over the last several months regarding the advancement of port innovation, marine health, and the blue economy. 

Seattle, WA – It was announced on April 6th, 2021 that two companies from the Washington Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator were awarded a contract to build a pump out vessel for the Port of Lopez. This vessel was purchased through a generous grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and will serve as the first all-electric pump out vessel for the port.

The goal of the Quiet Sound program is to better understand and reduce the cumulative effects of  acoustic and physical disturbance from large commercial vessels on Southern Resident Orcas throughout their range in Washington State.

A quarterly news update on all that is going on within Washington Maritime Blue, its members, partners and affiliated programs around the globe – all working to accelerate innovation and grow the blue economy for a sustainable maritime industry. 

Washington Maritime Blue, in collaboration with Impact Washington and DNV, announces the release of a report (‘Recycled Paper Barging to Washington State Mills’) examining barging options for supplying wastepaper feedstocks to Washington State recycled containerboard mills. An associated study (‘Zero Emissions Barge Feasibility Study’) explores opportunities to accelerate decarbonization through batteries for short sea shipping.

Over just this first year, Maritime Blue has driven capital investments toward a clean energy future, has convened partnerships to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship and is consciously building the trust with communities that is necessary to develop an equitable and just twenty-first century workforce.