OceanPal Aims to Enable User-Owned AI at Scale with Blockchain-Native Infrastructure

OceanPal Inc. (NASDAQ: OP), a global shipping company, has completed a $120 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) to launch SovereignAI Services LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary focused on building blockchain-native AI infrastructure in collaboration with the NEAR Foundation. The financing, disclosed in a press release Morningstar release, marks a strategic pivot for the company, which will continue its core operations in dry bulk and tanker shipping while expanding into digital asset and AI technologies.

SovereignAI's primary objective is to commercialize the NEAR Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain platform designed for scalable, AI-compatible decentralized applications. The subsidiary will use the proceeds to implement a digital asset treasury strategy centered on accumulating NEAR tokens, with the goal of acquiring at least 10% of the total supply over time. The capital will also fund the development of a confidential AI cloud infrastructure powered by NVIDIA technology and NEAR's architecture, as described in a PR Newswire release.

The NEAR Protocol's focus on agentic AI and chain abstraction aligns with growing institutional demand for privacy-first, regulatory-compliant solutions in sectors like finance, healthcare, and media. Sal Ternullo, OceanPal's newly appointed Co-CEO, emphasized that NEAR offers "the greatest asymmetric upside across mature projects in the digital asset market," aiming to position SovereignAI as a leading public investment vehicle for exposure to the NEAR token and its infrastructure, according to a The Block report.

The transaction attracted participation from crypto-native investors, including Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and G20 Group, alongside strategic advisors like Clear Street LLC and Cohen & Company Capital Markets. SovereignAI's advisory board, chaired by NEAR Foundation CEO Illia Polosukhin, includes industry figures such as OpenAI's Lukasz Kaiser and Quicknode's Jackie Kennedy, underscoring the project's alignment with AI and blockchain innovation, as noted in the Morningstar release.

OceanPal's COO, David Schwed, highlighted the company's ambition to "build the infrastructure enabling user-owned, privacy-preserving AI at scale." He noted that NEAR's architecture provides the "trust, security, and economic alignment necessary to realize true AI sovereignty," a vision shared by the NEAR Foundation, as reported by The Block.

While OceanPal will maintain its shipping operations, the PIPE represents a significant diversification into the AI and blockchain sectors. The company's stock, currently trading at $2.20 with a market cap of $14.73 million, has a strong liquidity position, with a current ratio of 7.05, according to an Investing.com report. The transaction, priced to satisfy Nasdaq's "Minimum Price" requirements, was conducted under Rule 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, with no public registration.

SovereignAI's strategy extends beyond passive token accumulation, leveraging yield from its balance sheet to fund infrastructure projects. This approach, combined with NEAR's AI-centric tech stack, aims to enable autonomous agent commerce-where AI agents function as independent economic actors capable of transacting and managing assets, as noted in the Morningstar release.

The move reflects broader trends in institutional interest in automation and scalable AI infrastructure, supported by continued backing from traditional finance and crypto-native funds. As OceanPal navigates this transition, its dual focus on shipping and AI sovereignty positions it at the intersection of two transformative industries.