Shipping keeps the world moving — but it also contributes nearly 3% of global carbon emissions. The surprising culprit? Biofouling: the buildup on ship hulls that drives fuel use up by as much as 40%.

In this episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines, host Rita Yang speaks with Elizabeth Chan, CEO of Neptune Robotics, and Jixun Foo, Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia, about how robotics is rewriting the rules of maritime efficiency.

You’ll hear how Neptune:

• Built robots that clean entire Cape-size vessels in under 24 hours, above and below water.
• Aims to make diver-based hull cleaning obsolete by improving safety and scalability.
• Is scaling globally — from Asia’s busiest ports to Japan, Europe, and beyond.

Jixun also shares why Granite Asia backed this unconventional team, and how Neptune’s journey illustrates what it takes to push hard-tech innovation from prototype to global scale.

👉 Listen in to see how robots beneath the waves may hold the key to decarbonizing one of the world’s largest industries.

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