Once stacked with bits of heavy iron and steel cables to run the lines, a manual log, and human knowledge of these tools – the maritime industry has now leapt hundreds of nautical miles into the digital age. In a major development Ocean Network Express (ONE) the sixth largest container line in the world and Monohakobi Technology Institute (MTI), an NYK Group company, have established QUAVEO Company Limited.
Based in the tech epicenter of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this collaborative project is no research experiment. The brainchild of declared founder Vasily Riazanov was founded in December 2025 and publicly launched on January 7, 2026 QUAVEO is an AI startup exclusive used for bridging the divide between “experimental tech” and “real-world shipping operations.”
What is QUAVEO?
The term “QUAVEO” is an acronym for Quality, Quantity, Idea and Evolution. The fund is capitalized at US$1.6 million (about 250 million JPY), MTI takes a share of 51% while the rest belongs to ONE.
Under the leadership of CEO, Ichiro Igari, Quaveo is now a company that wants to look beyond the ‘proof of concept’ (PoC) stage that often consigns Samsung’s strategic projects under wraps. Instead, it is adopting agile LLMs and Generative AI that work on the front lines – where ships meet water and cargo meets port.
The 4 Potentials of the AI Revolution
QUAVEO is expected to change the life cycle of shipping with a focus in four main directions:
Operation Optimization
The effort is designed to eliminate logistics guesswork. QUAVEO will use artificial intelligence to interrogate large data sets to optimize scheduling of vessels and tools. The idea is that it will maximize fuel economy and reduce the “idle time” to which global supply chains are notorious for falling victim.
Enhanced Customer Experience
In an age of instant gratification, shipping customers demand real-time responses. At QUAVEO, we’re building AI Agents to take the load off question answering and offer personalized attention. This shifts the industry from relying on slow email chains, to a 24/7-digital responsive interface.
Business Process Automation
Backoffice work in the shipping industry is, as notoriously known, fraught with a lot of documents. QUAVEO plans to use AI for automating repetitive duties and management processes, freeing up human workers that require thinking on a strategic level and problem-solving solutions.
Talent Development
Most importantly, QUAVEO is not creating just a software, but forming people. One of its essential business propositions is AI Talent Development, working to train a brand new generation of professionals who know both the ins and outs of what makes a container ship work as well as the nuance that is data science.
Why Vietnam?
Selecting Ho Chi Minh City as the place to build QUAVEO has been a strategic decision! Vietnam has become a hub of the world’s computer engineering and A.I. research. In doing so, ONE and MTI are tapping into a deep well of young, tech-savvy talent while remaining in close proximity to one of the busiest shipping lanes in Southeast Asia.
The Big Picture: What Lies Beyond the Horizon
Though QUAVEO has its sights on the container liner shipping sector in the near term, the partners have indicated that they have much larger plans. The AI software conceived in the sweaty offices of Ho Chi Minh City is planned for resale to other clients in distribution and manufacturing.
With the industry under growing pressure due to labor constraints, decarbonization goals and geopolitical volatility, QUAVEO is an effort for technology to be used as a “force multiplier,” Pribac said. By transforming data into a co-pilot, ONE and MTI aren’t just shipping containers; they’re shipping the future of global trade.
