Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) wants to bring crewless, autonomous ships to market next year, in order to put a stop to years of losses due to a price war with Chinese rivals.
UK-based consulting services provider tpgroup has completed a sea trial of its autonomous navigation system, Northstar, demonstrating safe navigation of unmanned vessels in real-time and in a real-life environment, without human intervention.
Russian technology company Kronshtadt Technologies has signes agreements to equip several domestic cargo and passenger ships with autonomous navigation systems.
NYK and its group companies MTI Co. Ltd., Keihin Dock Co. Ltd., and Japan Marine Science Inc. (JMS) obtained useful results in the second test of the remote navigation of a tugboat as a part of the Japanese government’s Sea Trial Project on Remote Control Navigation for the realization of autonomous ships by 2025.
e5 Lab announced the successful completion of a large-scale proof of concept (PoC) testing on the “ROBOSHIP Joint Value Creation Project” in waters off Toyosu, Tokyo.
Vard announced that it delivered the world’s first all-electric autonomous container ship, the Yara Birkeland, to its owners Yara International.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration released the first iteration of an automated ship reporting service, marking a milestone for Kongsberg’s SESAME Solution II project. The service is hosted on a test environment in SafeSeaNet Norway.
Maritime UK has launched an updated guidance of the industry Code of Practice for Maritime Autonomous Ship Systems, in a bid to address the accelerating pace of change in maritime autonomy.
In today’s smart environment, e-navigation remains a controversial subject of discussion, with some supporting that its aim is to assist operations, while others believe that seafarers may find it difficult to trust an autonomous system.
Yara Birkeland was one of the most eagerly anticipated vessel launches of the year. However, because of the pandemic and unseen complexities, the autonomous vessel is tipped to launch next year.
