Scottish and Japanese companies are to receive £9m from a joint fund to work together on innovative subsea technology for the offshore renewables, carbon capture and storage and oil and gas sectors.
The finance is the second round from a fund run by Scottish Enterprise and the Nippon Foundation.
Combined with investment made by the companies themselves, a total of £20.9m of industrial research and development will go ahead.
Twelve Scottish companies will partner with eight Japanese firms to complete six projects.
The collaborations include an £8.3m project to develop an offshore and subsea Internet Of Things infrastructure, and a £3.3m venture to build a digital system which monitors floating structures.
Scottish External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “I am encouraged by the continued collaboration between Scotland and Japan in marine resource development and subsea technologies.
“The Scottish government is committed to retaining our position as a global leader in subsea engineering – investing in our innovation infrastructure to grow Scotland’s market share and supporting opportunities in other sectors.”
Scottish Enterprise and Nippon Foundation run a joint competitive research and development fund to bring Japanese and Scottish universities and organisations together to develop innovative technology within the sector.
The first round of funding, announced last year, saw £7.15m go to eight Scottish companies to collaborate on five projects.
Subsea UK chief executive Neil Gordon (pictured, right) said: “Globally the Blue Economy is forecast to be worth £140bn by 2035 and Scottish companies who can develop disruptive technology can capitalise on this opportunity.
“The scale of this opportunity was reflected in the response to the second call which has attracted projects that have applications across the entire underwater industry.
“The increase in funding is in direct response to the success of the first call and the quality of submissions for the second call.
“Led by Scottish Enterprise, this initiative is a unique opportunity to engage with industry and academia across Scotland and Japan, renowned for their development of innovative technology.”
Scottish Enterprise head of oil and gas David Rennie (pictured, centre) said: “It is fantastic to see these projects coming to fruition and we are delighted to work with partners here in Scotland and Japan to support.
“While our experience and focus in subsea has been based around oil and gas, these project awards clearly demonstrate that our subsea sector, one of our key global strengths, has the potential to help deliver technology solutions in a range of sectors beyond oil and gas.
“These projects will create significant value for the Scottish economy, and we are delighted to support them.”