Singapore-based Clear Robotics and environmental services company ReSustainability have deployed a 100 percent electric, semi-autonomous vessel on the Pandan River for daily waste interception and marine operations.
The project is another commercial deployment for Clear Robotics, which has also been involved in AI-enabled electric river-cleanup pilots in the Philippines. The company is positioning its unmanned vessels as a way to reduce fuel use and move workers away from higher-risk manual marine tasks.
The Clearbot Class 2 used on the Pandan River is designed to intercept floating debris before it reaches open waters. Clear Robotics said the operation reduces the number of workers required on the vessel, with a single operator able to supervise the system from a safer position onshore.
Automation changes the operating model
Beyond propulsion, the vessel combines remote operation with data collection. Clear Robotics said AI-based post-processing can classify collected waste and support automated environmental, social and governance reporting.
The companies are presenting the deployment as both a decarbonization and workforce-safety project. ReSustainability said the system reduces exposure to operational risks while shifting work toward technology-enabled roles.
Clear Robotics Founder and Chief Technology Officer Utkarsh Goel said the company is developing a fleet of electric vessels that can be configured for waste recovery, water-quality surveys, weed clearing and other marine tasks.
Singapore is becoming a test bed for marine robotics
Clear Robotics has participated in Singapore’s PIER71 maritime innovation ecosystem and is backed by SGInnovate and other investors. Its model combines electric unmanned surface vessels with a Robots-as-a-Service approach rather than requiring customers to purchase and operate the full platform themselves.
The Pandan River deployment gives the company a daily commercial operating environment where labor efficiency, equipment reliability and waste-recovery data can be measured over time.
That is important for marine robotics because pilot demonstrations do not always translate into repeatable operations. Daily use creates a clearer test of uptime, maintenance needs, operator workload and the quality of data generated by the system.
Regional deployments are broadening the use case
Clear Robotics has also deployed electric cleanup vessels in Metro Manila through projects involving the Asian Development Bank and local authorities. Those deployments have focused on polluted urban waterways and automated waste recovery.
The Singapore project extends the company’s commercial case around workforce productivity and lower-emission operations. Its next challenge will be demonstrating whether the same platform can scale across different waterways and marine-service use cases without adding excessive operating complexity.
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