Zelim
Edinburgh maritime-safety firm behind the Guardian 8.4 m unmanned fast rescue craft, ZOE AI man-overboard detection and the Swift rescue conveyor.
Zelim is a Scottish maritime technology company that builds AI-enabled detection and recovery systems for search and rescue and maritime security, including an unmanned rescue vessel. It was founded in 2017 by CEO Sam Mayall after he lost friends at sea, and is headquartered at Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, with an operations site in Wallasey on the Wirral and an office in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The company reports a team of 37 and holds ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 certifications. Its first office, opened in 2019, was at Port Edgar inside the HM Coastguard area office.
Zelim's product line has three parts. Guardian is described as the world's first unmanned fast rescue craft. The 8.4 m aluminium-hulled vessel was designed by naval architects Chartwell Marine and uses a Sea Machines Robotics command-and-control system for remote and autonomous operation. It has a 2.55 m beam, 0.6 m draught and 3.8 tonne displacement, and a SOLAS-compliant 400 hp diesel driving an Alamarin waterjet gives it a top speed of more than 30 knots, with transit speeds of up to 35 knots quoted by Zelim. It has a 15 nautical mile range, six hours of endurance and room to recover up to 11 survivors. Guardian can run fully crewed, single-handed, remotely or semi-autonomously, launches from standard LARS davits and fast rescue craft infrastructure, and carries the ZOE detection system and a Swift conveyor so that detection and recovery happen on one platform. It was unveiled at the SMM trade fair, and Guardian 1.0 was launched in Holyhead, Wales, in 2024. Zelim had earlier completed what it calls the world's first unmanned recovery of a mannequin, using a proof-of-concept vessel in 2020.
ZOE is an automatic man-overboard detection system and AI lookout that meets the ISO 21195:2020 standard for man-overboard detection. It detects people falling overboard and tracks people and objects in the water in real time. Zelim says ZOE is trained on a proprietary maritime dataset of more than 9.5 million annotated objects. ZOE grew from a UK MoD Defence and Security Accelerator contract on AI detection for maritime search. It was first deployed in offshore energy on the Valaris Stavanger jack-up rig in 2024, and its first cruise installation followed in 2025 on Ambassador Cruise Line's Ambition. Also in 2025, ZOE MOB and Lookout were demonstrated aboard a naval vessel at NATO's REPMUS exercise. A US Navy SBIR contract, with US partner Tedgar, covers ZOE MOB for sailor safety in Carrier Strike Groups.
Swift is a floating man-overboard recovery conveyor that retrofits to pilot boats, harbour launches, workboats and fast rescue craft. It recovers a casualty, conscious or unconscious, in under 20 seconds with one operator. It handles casualties up to 275 kg, has been tested in Sea State 6 and holds Lloyd's Register Type Approval as a lifesaving appliance. Swift reached Technology Readiness Level 9 during offshore wind trials with Vattenfall in 2023 and has since been sold in Asia, South America and the UK.
Zelim's markets are cruise and ferry, offshore energy, defence and security, and commercial shipping. The company signed a collaboration agreement with the US Coast Guard in 2023 to explore AI in search and rescue, took part in the UK's Exercise SANCHO offshore wind emergency exercise, and was selected for NATO DIANA Phase I. In funding, a 2020 seed round was led by Indigo 7 Ventures, a £2.3 million round led by Kero and IV7 closed in 2022, and a Series A with Amati was completed in 2024. Awards include the British Safety Council's 2025 Health and Safety Transformation Award and KPMG Private Enterprise Tech Innovator in the UK 2026.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
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Contact Zelim
WEBSITE
https://www.zelim.com/HEADQUARTERS
United Kingdom
Company Facts
Founded
2017
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Europe
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Early-Stage VC
Funding Total
-
Certifications & Memberships
Keywords
- Zelim
- unmanned rescue vessel
- Guardian fast rescue craft
- man overboard detection
- ZOE AI lookout
- Swift rescue conveyor
- search and rescue
- MOB recovery
- ISO 21195
- maritime safety
- Manufacturer
- Software/Algorithm
- Unmanned Marine Vehicle
- Perception & Vision
- USV
- Defense & Security
- Oil
- Gas & Energy
- Logistics & Supply Chain
