Abu Dhabi Ports along with the vessel engineer Robert Allan Ltd., shake their hands in order to develop the world’s first fully unmanned autonomous commercial marine tugboats. Specifically, the tugs are expected to join SAFEEN, Abu Dhabi Ports’ service arm, once completed.
Through their development, both sides will focus on the tugboats design in order to achieve greater capability and allow vessels operate under adverse weather conditions. In fact, their new technology goals to boost efficiency and support operational safety.
Our cooperation with Robert Allan to develop a new generation of tugboats equipped with superior capabilities and modern technologies, reflects our commitment to ensuring that the infrastructure at Abu Dhabi Ports is at the cutting edge. We are engaged to provide smart and innovative digital solutions to the marine trade and port community, and to our valued customers.
…said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Abu Dhabi Ports Group CEO.
For the research and development of remotely-controlled marine tug vessels, Abu Dhabi Ports and Robert Allan Ltd. during the International Maritime Organization gathering in London, inked an MoU, so as their project development come into effect.
The unique aspect of this project is the active participation of all the various stakeholders in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, which should ensure that we can progress smoothly from construction of the vessels to commercial operations.
…as the CEO of Robert Allan Ltd, Mike Fitzpatrick, President concluded.
Overall, in light of the autonomous vessels’ situation, the European research program “Horizon 2020” recently funded 20.1 million euros to the Norwegian consortium led by Kongsberg and SINTEF, for its autonomous ships project, one of the largest grands the Norwegian players ever receive.
