The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has sold its controlling interest in EOM Offshore, a mooring systems company based on technology that was developed by WHOI engineers.
The company was founded as a start-up in 2010 to commercialize highly stretchable, fatigue-resistant hoses to transmit power and data to and from undersea sensors.
EOM stretch hose are being used in the newly launched Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million project funded by National Science Foundation to establish long-term oceanographic platforms equipped with sensors that can monitor ocean conditions 24/7 for decades. They are also used on mooring networks to listen for endangered whale calls and transmit those signals to shore—in an effort to warn ships of the whales’ presence and avoid lethal collisions.
WHOI sold its 68-percent ownership interest to EOM’s management team and investors for $1.8 million.
Christopher Land, the vice president for legal affairs and general counsel at WHOI said the sale of EOM Offshore to a new management team and investors is a great example of WHOI’S ability and success in creating new blue-tech companies, technologies, and jobs that benefit the local community, the state’s tech corridor, and the American economy as a whole.