Navigation Technology News

When asked why pilots(1) are so effective, most say, “They know the local waters.” While true, there are other important factors that make pilotage so effective.Compulsory pilotage is navigation safety regulation, and by far the most effective mechanism available to governments to protect the marine environment while facilitating maritime commerce(2). Pilotage regulations are so effective because, unlike other maritime safety regulations which merely direct a ship to take or not take certain actions…

Avikus on Friday announced it is working toward gaining word-first DNV Type Approval for its innovative autonomous vessel systems.The South Korea-based marine technology company said it cemented its partnership with classification society DNV with an agreement signed this week at the SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg, Germany.Avikus said it is progressing through DNV’s System Qualification process for its autonomous navigation system, HiNAS Control, under DNV-CG-0264 and relevant international standards.

Avikus, HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation in-house startup, has verified that its autonomous navigation system is capable of reducing fuel use by as much as 15%, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 10%.The fuel savings were quantified on a 325,000-ton very large ore carrier (VLOC) operating several times on a 5,800-mile route from Singapore to Brazil using Avikus’ autonomous HiNAS Control system.The verification of this performance was conducted through procedures that were jointly developed by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Avikus…

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has claimed an industry first with the verification of its autonomous navigation technology on a container ship sailing between South Korea and Taiwan.The company installed its remote autonomous navigation system (SAS) and smart ship system (SVESSEL) on a 15,000 TEU class large container ship built at its Geoje shipyard. Fom June 26 to July 1, the vessel departed from Geoje and passed Jeju Island to Taiwan, demonstrating its autonomous navigation technology by operating about 1…

ADNOC L&S, the shipping and maritime logistics arm of the Abu Dhabi-based oil firm ADNOC, has signed an agreement with SeaOwl for the design of unmanned remotely operated vessels capable of transporting vehicles, equipment, and supplies to and from offshore sites.ADNOC L&S said these vessels would reduce carbon emissions by up to 30% as the vessel will be lighter and smaller, as facilities for a crew are not required. "In addition, the smart automation systems will optimize routing and propulsion…

Armach Robotics, Inc. announced the launch of EverClean - a new service delivering always clean hulls for ship owners and operators, with the added value of perpetual hull condition monitoring.Following a successful period of demonstrating the effectiveness of its hull cleaning robots with commercial shipping operators, EverClean enters the market amid heightened demand for cost-effective and sustainable solutions toward decarbonizing and managing biofouling.Managing biofouling on ships has long been a challenge…

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. (SHI) and Kongsberg Maritime (KM) signed a Joint Development Project Agreement (JDA), an agreement that serves as the basis to develop a design for next-generation  'autonomous' 174K LNG Carrier, leveraging autonomous, remote and low emission technology.In the partnership, SHI will be system integrator with overall design responsibility, while KM will be responsible for the integrated solution designs and have the role as a strategic partner. "We are…

ABS and HD Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue working together on marine autonomy projects. Building on shared efforts to expand the development of autonomous navigation technology into critical vessel machinery and safety systems, the organizations met again at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to finalize the agreement covering four areas:Artificial Intelligence-based Autonomous Machinery Health Management Function (HiCBM)Artificial…

Sperry Marine has unveiled NAVIPILOT 4500N, a networked, self-tuning, fully adaptive heading control system. The first in a new series of autopilot systems, NAVIPILOT 4500N is designed to deliver improved course-keeping with reduced fuel consumption and a lower workload on the bridge, the company said.NAVIPILOT 4500N delivers the heading control performance that users expect from Sperry Marine, minimizing unwanted rudder motion and lowering drag, thereby saving fuel and contributing to greater efficiency.

Karl Lander, Director, Regulatory Compliance and Outreach of Armach Robotics joined a host of leaders in sustainable technologies and innovation at the 3rd Decarbonizing Shipping Forum, being held in Hamburg this week. He introduced the concept of autonomous robots making proactive in-water cleaning a reality, in support of the worldwide goal of decarbonizing in shipping.During the presentation, Lander discussed the impacts of fouling, and the need for a more proactive approach to biofouling…

Korean Register (KR) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), agreeing to work together on increased digitalization and the development smart and autonomous ship technology.The MOU was signed on May 18 and was attended by representatives from both companies, including the CEOs. KR and DSME will form a joint council and cooperate on smart and autonomous ship technologies and digitalization research.The key aspects of the…

A 180,000-square-meter-capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier is said to be the world's first large cargo ship to cross the Pacific using autonomous navigation.Built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2021 and delivered to SK Shipping in South Korea, the vessel Prism Courage is equipped with HiNAS 2.0, Level 2 autonomous navigation solution developed by Avikus, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai (former Hyundai Heavy Industries Group).According to Avikus, HiNAS 2.0 creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service's Integrated Smartship Solution.

Melding advanced software, intelligence, robotics and navigation, Armach Robotics – a spinoff of Greensea Systems – leads a step change in ship hull cleaning and maintenance with its Robotics as a Service model. Ben Kinnaman, the CEO of Greensea Systems, explains.Ben, to start us off, please give us a background on Armach Robotics? Where did the idea come from and where are we today?Greensea Systems is a software company, well-known for our software platform on ocean robotics. We're also well-known for our unique navigation and autonomy solutions.

FarSounder announced Ulstein Belga Marine headquartered in Centro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is its newest dealer and their first in Brazil. Ulstein Belga Marine will integrate FarSounder’s Argos series of 3D forward-looking sonars into its product offering.“Our strategy has been moving towards digitalization and sensor related solutions for communication, navigation, sea-state monitoring and optimization of performance,” said Jan Lomholdt, Managing Director of Ulstein Belga Marine.The Argos system’s technology provides vessels with real-time 3D imagery of the waters ahead…

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Prime Minister, Manuela Schwesig were among those in attendance at a keel laying ceremony for the world’s largest polar-class expedition yacht held Tuesday in Germany.The ceremony marked a construction milestone for the 20,000 gross ton luxury expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor, currently being built for Crystal Cruises at MV WERFTEN's Stralsund shipyard.“The keel laying of Crystal Endeavor here in my political hometown of Stralsund marks a special moment for me that is doubly significant…

VDAB, the Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training, has chosen a unique dredging simulator developed by Kongsberg on its state-of-the-art K-Sim Navigation technology platform. Selected during a multi-million Euro public tender initiated in September 2018 with the contract signed this April, the system will be installed at VDAB’s training facility in Zeebrugge, Belgium, where new and experienced vessel crew will take part in the most realistic dredging training exercises available.VDAB’s new capabilities will enable safer dredging by further building crew competence…

ABB was contracted to deliver integrated vessel systems to two dredgers being built by Keppel Offshore & Marine for Van Oord, a key contract win for a new market: specialized dredgers.This is ABB’s largest dredging vessel project for a European end customer, a contract that covers integrated electrical power, automation, control and navigation packages for a pair of 10,500 cu. m. capacity trailing suction hopper dredgers built for the Dutch dredging and marine contractor Van Oord.

There have been numerous articles and opinion pieces speaking of the potential application areas of maritime autonomous technology, the elimination of “human error”, and the resulting safer operations that will supposedly be realized. The question of whether autonomous ships will offer safer solutions than crewed ships remains to be answered, and will not be resolved today. However, there is an important issue regarding levels of autonomy in vessel operations that needs to be addressed.Many vessel operators feel that this technology will not impact their particular operating environment, and therefore there is no reason for them to worry about it. But the reality is that all vessel operators should stay abreast of developments in the arena of autonomous vessel operations.

Silver Ships, Inc. has announced its collaboration with industry vendors in the creation of an aluminum demonstration yacht tender. The 36-foot demo boat is designed and manufactured to serve the purpose of supporting a large yacht with comfortable seating for up to 10 passengers.The vessel is an Ambar series Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) equipped with an extended, enclosed center console with forward cuddy (with boat head). It is outfitted to satisfy the need for versatility in both recreational and commercial use…

Silver Ships, Inc. said it has collaborated with industry vendors to create an aluminum demonstration fire/rescue boat.Designed and manufactured for firefighting and rescue applications, the vessel will be used to showcase the capabilities and craftsmanship of Silver Ships along with participating vendors, whose parts and components enhance the mission-ready abilities of the vessel.Steven Clarke, co-owner at Silver Ships, said, “We tried to put as many capabilities as possible into this AM800 fire boat…

China’s Cosco Shipping Technology (CS Tech) has teamed up with Japan’s Furuno Electric and Heisei Trading to form a joint venture in the maritime navigation and communications market.The Shanghai based Cosco Shipping Furuno Navigation Technology will provide equipment, systems and related services for domestic and international shipping fleets as well as inland waterways vessels. The consortium will also examine future research possibilities concerning safer, more secure and efficient ship operation.Yukio Furuno…

Kongsberg Maritime's active sonar suite and bottom navigation technology has been selected for installation on Type 212CD class submarines for both the Norwegian and German navies.The contract was awarded through a comparative and thorough process governed by Kongsberg Thyssen Atlas JV (kta naval systems) and tkMS (thyssenKrupp marine systems) with another vendor(s).The Kongsberg technology package consists of SA9510S MKII Mine Avoidance and Navigation Sonars (MANS) plus a Bottom Navigation System (BNS) containing EM2040 MIL multibeam echo sounders and an EA640 echo sounder suite.

There is much talk among maritime professionals about how automation and autonomous vessels will make the industry safer. In truth, innovation will be driven by the bottom line and will take time before it is commonplace in the industry. Early examples are likely to be limited to smaller vessels and coastal waters. Autonomous ships are predicted to reduce human error, a major driver of accidents, but crews will still have an important role on board vessels for the foreseeable future.Recent TrialsIn December 2018…