Within the MEGURI2040 project, led by The Nippon Foundation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and its partners have carried out two port-to-port autonomous sailings with a coastal container ship and a ferry.
The sea trials were conducted on 24-25 January 2022 between the Japanese ports of Tsuruga and Sakai.
In October 2021, MOL Marine & Engineering did a safety verification test using its 3D simulator.
The consortium behind the trials includes Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding (responsible for developing the 'Judgement' and 'Ship Operation' functions - automated collision avoidance routing, automated ship operation in port, and automatic berthing/unberthing); Furuno Electric (the 'Cognitive' function - integration of sensor information during navigation and at berthing); Imoto Lines and MOL Ferry (providing the container carrier and ferry, respectively, and seafarers and developing the ship operation plans); A.L.I. Technologies (mooring support technology); and MOL Marine & Engineering (simulation software for collision avoidance, navigation, berthing, and unberthing).
The ships safely navigated the routes formulated by the autonomous collision avoidance routing system based on the integrated information.
Autonomous berthing and unberthing were executed using information from the Furuno Electric-developed berthing/unberthing support sensor (equipment that calculates and visually displays accurate relative distances and relative angles between the pier and hull from the data gathered by LiDAR/camera/satellite compass).
A robotic flight drone was in charge of the mooring by carrying the heaving line to the pier.
During the trials, information on other ships and obstacles/debris on the set route was gathered by the Furuno Electric-developed autonomous surrounding information integration system (which measures and displays positions, speed, types of nearby ships, and position of obstacles/debris by integrating information gained by cognition through radar, AIS, and camera images).
The consortium plans further autonomous navigation sea tests using the coastal car ferry Sunflower Shiretoko.
Photo: Imoto Lines