THE 204-TEU Suzaku, a Japanese coastal feeder, is being retrofitted for autonomous shipping as part of the Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS) project, reports London's Loadstar.
Loaded with two containers, the 2019-built Suzaku began an autonomous sailing trial between Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay after being retrofitted at Innoshima Sanwa Shipyard.
The pilot project, sponsored by the Joint Technological Development Programme for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships under the Nippon Foundation, is testing the feasibility of unmanned navigation through crowded waters.
It is the second known Japanese containership to be piloted for autonomous shipping, after MOL subsidiary Imoto Lines' 194-TEU Mikage last month.
Plans to pilot Suzaku, owned by Japan Railway Construction, for autonomous shipping began in September, after DFFAS completed an onshore support centre in Mihama ward in Chiba. It will remotely monitor the vessel during the testing and can intervene in an emergency.
In November, the 120-TEU Norwegian-built Yara Birkeland became the world's first autonomous battery-operated containership when it commenced operations for Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara International, transporting fertilisers from the company's Porsgrunn plant to Norway's Brevik and Larvik ports.
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Loaded with two containers, the 2019-built Suzaku began an autonomous sailing trial between Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay after being retrofitted at Innoshima Sanwa Shipyard.
The pilot project, sponsored by the Joint Technological Development Programme for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships under the Nippon Foundation, is testing the feasibility of unmanned navigation through crowded waters.
It is the second known Japanese containership to be piloted for autonomous shipping, after MOL subsidiary Imoto Lines' 194-TEU Mikage last month.
Plans to pilot Suzaku, owned by Japan Railway Construction, for autonomous shipping began in September, after DFFAS completed an onshore support centre in Mihama ward in Chiba. It will remotely monitor the vessel during the testing and can intervene in an emergency.
In November, the 120-TEU Norwegian-built Yara Birkeland became the world's first autonomous battery-operated containership when it commenced operations for Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara International, transporting fertilisers from the company's Porsgrunn plant to Norway's Brevik and Larvik ports.
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