A Japanese container ship is being retrofitted for autonomous shipping as part of the Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS) project.
Suzaku began an autonomous sailing trial between Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay on February 7, after being retrofitted for two months in Innoshima Sanwa Shipyard.
The pilot project, sponsored by the Joint Technological Development Programme for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships under the Nippon Foundation, aims to test the feasibility of unmanned navigation through crowded waters.
It is the second known Japanese containership to be piloted for autonomous shipping, after MOL subsidiary Imoto Lines’ 194 teu Mikage last month.
Plans to pilot Suzaku for autonomous shipping began in September, after DFFAS completed an onshore support centre in Mihama ward in Chiba.
The company will remotely monitor the vessel during the testing and can intervene in an emergency.
DFFAS hopes to commercialise unmanned shipping by 2025.
