Kinell extends into the marine sector

The Fétis Group announced it is bringing its professional marine activity into the Kinell offering in its strategy to consolidate all its decarbonization activities under a single international brand across off-highway machines, special vehicles, the professional marine sector, site energy and digital services.

Kinell was launched in May 2025 for the off-highway and special vehicle markets. Now, the systems integration capabilities of Seco Marine, part of the Fétis Group family of companies, will become a focus for growth under the Kinell name. Seco Marine has successfully executed a number of decarbonization projects through electrification and hydrogen propulsion and onboard power of both new vessels and retrofits.

“By bringing our marine systems integrations activities into the Kinell brand… we see great opportunities for technology transfer between the land-based and water-based activities,” said Damien Fétis, president of Fétis Group. “Additionally, in some projects, we envisage a whole ecosystem approach to decarbonization with port equipment or energy storage enabling and reinforcing the decarbonization of vessels.”

According to the Group, Kinell will be able to draw on a wealth of experience in the maritime sector covering the entire onboard energy chain:

• ship electrification
• motorization and propulsion
• safety (particularly in relation to hydrogen (H₂) and new energy carriers)
• programming/software (control-command, energy management)
• H₂ integration: tanks, fuel cells, piping, control software, etc.
• hybridization with combustion engines (customized generators, hybrid solutions, etc.)

“Shipowners, shipyards and public authorities are no longer just looking for components; they are looking for a partner capable of taking charge of the entire energy chain on board,” said David Bartoletti, general manager, Kinell for the Marine Sector. “At Kinell, we are perfectly positioned as one of the few integrators capable of covering all these areas – from electrification to hydrogen – and supporting our customers in France and Europe over the long term.”

The key markets Kinell will seek to target include freight transport; passenger transport; commercial fishing; and maritime and port works, and more broadly, works in the maritime environment. The company’s modular offering ranges from complete systems to the supply of targeted technological building blocks, depending on the customer’s needs.

“Our strength lies in our ability to speak the language of both engineers and operators. We design complete energy architectures, develop our own energy management software and integrate the best technologies available on the market,” Bartoletti stated. “Kinell for the marine industry has the ability to bring all these elements together to deliver carbon-free propulsion systems that are truly adapted to the constraints of the field.”