The Loxus story

Over 25 years with the coastguard, working in underwater operations and as the Head of Maritime Rescue have led Mikko, CEO and owner of Loxus, to quite a few underwater locations around the world. Mikko has had ground-breaking and breath-taking experience of diving and ROVs (remotely operated vehicles); on the seafloor he has searched for objects such as wrecks, toxins, explosives and aeroplanes.

He has also had very difficult professional work experiences in the aftermath of the accidents involving the Estonia vehicle ferry and Copterline. Luckily, the majority of his work has involved preventative inspection and maintenance with leading equipment and software, such as gas and oil pipeline inspections and maintenance in the offshore industry. His network, which includes geologists, biologists and experts in underwater infrastructure, has taught him valuable lessons and taken him to the next stage in his life. This is still a very important part of our work.

Loxus Technologies Oy was founded in 1998. At that time, we received our first task, when ferries were being replaced by bridges and we used side-scan sonar to scan bridge underlays for archaeological purposes, as requested by the Finnish Heritage Agency. Over time, our work has focused on more challenging conditions involving power plants, water plants and industries working with large volumes of water. Companies like Statkraft, Eidsiva, Vattenfall, Fortum and UPM have used our skills and services. We have also become a trusted service provider for many design agencies specializing in underwater infrastructure, including Pöyry in Finland, Åf in Sweden and Norconsult in Norway.
We dive into underwater tunnels and pipelines, using our remote-controlled robots to which sensors and arms can be attached as needed for inspections and maintenance work. We identify collapse risks and other maintenance needs in advance, as in the worst case they may even halt production. As pioneers of ROV technology for tunnels, we were the first in the world to make use of 3D sonar technology in our robots, allowing for online 3D laser scanning of inspection sites with an accuracy of just a couple of centimetres, even in zero-visibility. Flowing water is no problem for us, and production doesn’t need to be stopped for inspections. Today, tunnel inspections are major, meticulously planned projects in which a large network, skills and long experience have made Loxus a market leader in Europe.

”My journey to leadership has included taking risks and making large investments in product development, even in insecure times. Reliable and knowledgeable staff and a network of partners have made our success possible. We intend to continue as the leading actor in underwater inspections and our sights are already set on virtual technology,” says CEO Mikko Simola. 

PS. If you have the required skills and passion and want to be part of our success, contact us! 

Kind regards, Mikko Simola