MITSUI OSK Lines has completed the world’s first sea trial of an unmanned container vessel in Japan.
Japan-flagged coastal containership Mikage sailed between the Japanese ports of Tsuruga and Sakai last week as part of an unmanned ship project led by the Nippon Foundation.
The project, MEGURI 2040, was launched in February 2020 to support advancements toward fully autonomous ship navigation.
MOL collaborated on the project with group companies MOL Ferry Co Ltd and MOL Marine & Engineering Co Ltd and four other consortium partners, including Japanese coastal shipping company Imoto Lines.
In addition to the containership trial, the consortium also tested the navigation system using a coastal car ferry earlier this month.
The results of the trials will be used to develop versatile technologies by identifying similarities and differences between the two ship types.
To achieve autonomous navigation, the vessels followed a previously formulated route using the MES-S developed autonomous ship operation control system.
Considerations included external elements such as wind and currents, ship handling performance specific to each vessel, and navigation rules applied to ships.
Information relating to nearby ships and obstacles along the set route was gathered by an autonomous surrounding information integration system, developed by Japanese electronics company Furuno Electric.
Using this information, the autonomous collision avoidance routing system enabled Mikage to safely navigate the formulated route.
MOL said the delicate berthing and unberthing process was achieved using information from a berthing support sensor which calculates distances and angles between the pier and the hull.
The company said automated mooring is another element of the consortium’s project, with tests conducted using a drone.
“Normally, a crewmember on the ship passes the heaving line by throwing it to a worker on the pier. In this sea trial, the A.L.I.-developed automatic flight drone carried the line to the pier,” MOL said in a statement.
“As technology advances in the future, this is expected to become an alternative approach to mooring operations, which is a heavy burden on seafarers.”
MOL said the consortium is planning another autonomous navigation sea trial for February this year, using the coastal car ferry Sunflower Shiretoko, which has different characteristics from the containership.
“The consortium continually aims to reduce the workload on seafarers and ensure safe, secure marine traffic, through MEGURI 2040 initiatives to realise autonomous sailing,” they said.
The advancements toward autonomous shipping are echoed by the maiden voyage of Norway’s Yara Birkeland in November last year.
Yara Birkeland is the world’s first fully electric and self-propelled containership, which is expected to enter commercial operation in 2022.
