ABS collaborated with Sea Machines and Foss Maritime to advance adoption of autonomous operations at sea by issuing approval in principle (AIP) to their vessel autonomy system, the SM300, that provides autonomous navigation and collision detection and collision avoidance (CDCA).
Foss will install Sea Machines’ SM300 system on board its harbor tug Rachael Allen to enhance safety and efficiency of operations. Overall, the system will function for routine transit and stand-by operations with the goals of enhanced safety and alleviating crew fatigue.
Sea Machines’ new autonomous system underwent a series of product reviews to prove that the technology met ABS’ requirements for the use of autonomous systems aboard vessels. The SM300 system also assists with station-keeping and is capable of interfacing with Kongsberg-MTU propulsion systems.
We are proud to add this project to the list of pioneering initiatives we are supporting all over the world that are gradually realizing the potential of autonomous operations for the industry
said Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology.
Through the AIP process, ABS reviewed numerous documents for Sea Machines including software test plans and concept of operations materials for the Rachael Allen.
In such reviews, ABS seeks to identify potential design risks or issues that may result in substantial change in direction in the project by evaluating the design approaches, rules, regulations and types of calculations presented.
In a similar development, another harbor tug became the first vessel to be verified for autonomous collision avoidance in the Port of Singapore.
The successful sea trials involved the Keppel Smit Towage tug Maju 510 which was used to verify autonomous collision avoidance capabilities of ABB Ability Marine Pilot technology in the Port of Singapore.
