The autonomous ship research project – Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) – which Deltamarin participates in, has unveiled its first-year findings.
The objective of the AAWA project is to produce the specification and preliminary designs for the next-generation advanced ship solutions by exploring economic, social, legal, regulatory and technological factors, which need to be addressed to make autonomous ships reality.
The AAWA project brings together universities, ship designers, equipment manufacturers and classification societies. Commercial ship operators Finferries, the Finnish ferry operator, and ESL Shipping, the Finnish dry bulk cargo carrier, will provide the project with real operational experience of the technologies, advancing the development of remote and autonomous operations.
Deltamarin’s role in the AAWA project concentrates on analysing and simulating the effects of autonomous operations in the ship design. For example, the share of electrical and automation design will increase when the ship is also to be operated remotely and autonomously.
“Deltamarin wants to be involved in trendsetting projects, which aim at changing the nature of the maritime industry with smarter solutions for ship design and operations. In the AAWA project, we are not just envisioning how remote and autonomous shipping will become reality but we can also have an effect on making it real,” says Mrs Päivi Haikkola, Manager, R&D at Deltamarin.
“Autonomous shipping is one of the most significant transformations our industry is currently facing. We believe that autonomous operations will improve the safety of all mariners and the sustainability of the entire shipping,” continues Mrs Haikkola.