On September 26–28, Klaipėda Science and Technology Park brought together creators, technology and business representatives for the seventh time for the international maritime innovation marathon PORTATHON 2025. This year, the event once again became not only a creative space, but also a real business tool – a platform where ideas turn into applicable solutions.
Innovation Weekend – Amazing
The hackathon PORTATHON 2025, organized by Klaipėda Science and Technology Park together with the Lithuanian Maritime Cluster, has once again invited participants to a live-only event after a long time, where teams worked for 48 hours non-stop.
This year’s hackathon attracted 120 participants from Lithuania, Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mauritius, South Korea and India, 20 teams competed, 19 of which managed to present final solutions. The event participants were advised by an international team of 22 mentors from the business, science and military industry sectors.
This year’s event required novelty and unusual technological searches due to the variety of challenges. Innovative solutions were obtained that combine not only engineering, but also aspects of national and international geopolitical security in the maritime and transport sectors. The concept of the event has also changed somewhat: the prize fund has been increased to EUR 5,500, and the four winning teams have been ranked by placing after summing up the competition jury scores.
Technological solutions – from cybersecurity to sustainable mobility
The challenges for the hackathon organized by KSTP were, as usual, provided by the event partners: Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, international green energy company Ignitis Renewables, AB Western Shipyard BLRT Grupp, Klaipėda FEZ, and Hamburg and Blekinge Universities of Technology.
It is gratifying that all the challenges raised at the hackathon received solutions. Among the favorites are as many as three of them: the most relevant ones received four solutions each – both challenges submitted by Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, related to GPS interference in navigation and smart ticket sales. The green energy company Ignitis Renewable, formulated on the topic of safety and logistics digitalization of offshore wind farms, also had a lot to choose from – innovative technological solutions were presented.
For the first time in the history of the event, the port’s theme was diversified by the challenge “FutureFlows” of the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone Company, related to a sustainable environment, employee motivation, and transport flow management.
Inspiring victories
The first place went to the team “SHIKAKU”, which created an artificial intelligence-driven defense system against GPS spoofing attacks. The solution combines multi-source data analysis, radar and AIS signals, and an operator warning system. This is the first technology of its kind adapted to the specifics of port operations.
The technological uniqueness of this system is that for the first time the principles of cybersecurity are applied to maritime navigation. It is also the first anti-spoofing system specifically designed for port operations in narrow approach channels, combining military-grade resilience with practical civilian use.
The second place went to “Young Developers”, who presented an interactive GPS interference map generated in real time from open data sources. The most important technological aspect is live monitoring of the data stream, which allows for immediate detection of anomalies. In addition, the system creates historical maps that help identify recurring interference locations and predict recurring patterns, increasing navigation safety.
“FutureFlows” – a new theme at the port hackathon
The third-place winner is the “PortVision” team from Romania, which proposed “FutureFlow” – a sustainable mobility platform designed to change daily commuting habits in the FEZ community.
The solution combines game principles, artificial intelligence-based ride and route matching, and a multi-tiered employer-sponsored reward system. Employees can easily choose between walking, cycling, public transport or car sharing, and the platform ensures trust and transparency using advanced tracking, safety features and fraud prevention mechanisms.
The developers presented a multimodal model for solving the problem with clear benefits for the employer, where direct CO₂ savings reporting summaries, employment, cost-effectiveness and safety indicators are obtained.
Fourth – Klaipėda University’s young engineers’ team “#KU_Engineers”. The latter took on the challenge set by Blekinge University of Technology – artificial intelligence-based cargo flow forecasting and sustainable supply chain support. At the event, the young engineers presented a solution where, based on historical ship route data, a prototype of a machine learning model was trained, which is able to predict trajectories. An artificial intelligence assistant was also created, which acts as an intermediary between mathematical forecast models and historical data processing functions and a decision maker. Such a solution would facilitate the planning and management of ship routes, potentially reduce congestion of ships entering the port, and accordingly reduce delays in logistics links, and help optimize ship fuel consumption.
Platform – where ideas turn into solutions
It is pleasing to note that in addition to financial motivation, other opportunities open up for participants in the PORTATHON hackathon: the solutions they create are applied in real-world business activities, and meeting mentors and partners often becomes a springboard for creating startups.
PORTATHON is the only such platform in the port city, where innovations meet reality, and ideas turn into solutions that can have an impact in the blue and green policy sectors, the circular economy, contribute to environmental and cybersecurity protection, and strengthen the Lithuanian innovation ecosystem.
PORTATHON – comprehensive solutions for business, a platform for talents
PORTATHON marathon partners are traditionally generators of challenges. This year’s event is no exception in this regard. Since the hackathon takes place in a port city, the usual dominant theme is maritime, but it is gratifying that partners of a different nature are also joining the marathon ranks – partners dealing with renewable energy, security, and sustainability issues.
The consistent participation of business partners shows that the hackathon has real value and benefits created, and its results meet market needs. Such value is seen and felt by long-time partners Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, AB Western Shipyard BLRT Grupp, Hamburg University of Technology and Blekinge University of Technology, who joined the partners this year but have supported the event before – the international green energy company Ignitis renewables and Klaipėda FEZ.
Hackathons today are becoming not only creative experiments, but also part of business strategy. These are intensive events where specialists from various fields create new technological or business solutions that generate real value in a few days.
Such formats act as catalysts for innovation – limited time, a clear goal and team dynamics encourage non-standard creativity and rapid implementation of ideas. For participants, it is an opportunity to reveal talents, gain insights from valuable mentors and expand professional connections, and for business – an excellent critical environment and solution platform, where a specific problem is examined in a complex way, covering various aspects and levels of competence – from a strategic approach to practical implementation.
