A consortium of maritime companies revealed the concept design of an Autonomous Guard Vessel (AGV) which will boost the offshore industry as well as require lower operating costs due to no crew being required.
Marubeni Corporation, Tryangle, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding and the City of Yokosuka shake their hands in order to develop and test autonomous ship technology.
Qingdao Shipyard recently reported the construction of China’s first autonomous containership, named as Zhi Fei, according to Chinese media sources.
The shipping industry is based on a number of safety regulations, ensuring safety at sea with regards to the construction, equipment and seaworthiness of ships to the Flag States. Yet, autonomous functions used onboard a vessel performing duties that would be normally conducted by a person will be in conflict with the regulations.
In a recently launched advisory, the US-based classification society ABS provides information about autonomous functions in the shipping industry and explains what the Concept of Operations (ConOps) document is and how it can be used for autonomous operations.
In the ongoing battle of improving, the shipping industry has made the greatest ally; Digitalization. The smart era has already been useful for the sector, while the advancement in the maritime industry has called for the development of autonomous ships, presenting the motion of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS).
Automation and autonomy play a significant role in the shipping industry, paving the way for a more digitalized future and enabling the industry deal with its current smart challenges. Yet, there is confusion between those two terms; so what do we mean when we talk about automation and autonomy within the maritine industry?
In the last quarter of 2019, Wärtsilä signed a contract with Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) in Finland for the delivery of navigation simulator and specific mathematical models, what are called to be used as an ”essential enabler” for testing autonomous vessels.
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded an initial £1-million contract to Plymouth-based innovation firm MSubs Ltd to build a test extra-large autonomous submarine. The move seeks to explore the potential capabilities of larger unmanned underwater vehicles in the future.
IBM and Promare, marine research organization, announced that the new “AI Captain”, which will be used by the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) to self-navigate across the Atlantic, is going to be trialled in sea this month.
