A Japanese consortium of Marubeni Corporation, Tryangle, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, and the City of Yokosuka has secured a place in the Joint Technological Development Programme for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships led by The Nippon Foundation.
As informed, the consortium will launch a pilot project with an aim to establish the technology for autonomous ship operation in Yokosuka City with the financial support awarded by The Nippon Foundation.
Currently, Japanese coastal trade is facing issues resulting from its aging population and a declining number of ship crew engaged in the industry. Under these circumstances, autonomous ships are expected to reduce the workload of the ship crew while enhancing operational safety.
According to the consortium, unmanned ships will contribute to secure, safe and stable sea transport in Japan; for instance, the technology is expected to play a significant role in transporting necessary goods should Japan experience a natural disaster.
The pilot project is planned to be conducted on a voyage route between Mikasa Pier and Sarushima Island in Yokosuka City. The autonomous ship technology being developed by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding is to be retrofitted on one of the existing small-sized passenger boats operated by Tryangle, in order to achieve autonomous ship operations including berthing and unberthing.
The ship crew will be present onboard to ensure the security of the operation, the consortium explained.
The retrofitting procedure and the operational tests of the autonomous technology will be completed by the end of 2021, and the autonomous operation is to be conducted by the end of March 2022.
由 Marubeni株式會社, Tryangle, 三井E＆S造船和橫須賀市組成的團隊已經由日本基金會所領導的“無人船示範技術聯合開發計劃”中獲得一席之地。
據悉，該團隊將發起一項實驗性的計畫，目的是在日本基金會的資助下，建立橫須賀市自主航行船技術。
當前，日本沿海貿易正面臨著由於人口老齡化和從事該行業的船員數量減少而引起的問題。在這種情況下，預計自主船舶將減少船員的工作量，同時提高操作安全性。
據該團隊稱，無人駕駛船舶將為日本的安全，安全和穩定的海上運輸做出貢獻。例如，假設日本遭受自然災害，該技術預計將在運輸必需的貨物方面扮演重要的角色。
該試驗項目計劃在橫須賀市ika碼頭和Sarushima島之間的航行路線上進行。由Mitsui E＆S Shipbuilding共同開發的自主船舶技術將在Tryangle現有的其中一艘小型客船上進行改裝，以達到包括靠泊和離港的自主船舶運作。
該團體解釋說，船員將在船上，以確保操作的安全性。
自主技術的改造程序和運行測試將在2021年底前完成，自主運行將於2022年3月底進行。
Imformation source: World Maritime News Staff
