Japanese autonomous ship project moves on to second stage
Orca AI is set to continue its collaboration with NYK Group subsidiary MTI and partners in the second development stage of the MEGURI2040 project for the development of autonomous ships, administered by the Nippon Foundation.
MEGURI2040 Phase Two will focus on demonstrating ship-shore operations using four different vessel types including a newly built container ship equipped with a fully autonomous operation system, an existing container ship, Ro-Ro vessel, and remote island route ship equipped for partial autonomous operations, as well as two fleet operation centres.
The Nippon Foundation’s MEGURI2040 project has envisioned the fully autonomous navigation program. The project was launched in 2020 with the aim to reach a full-scale commercialisation of fully autonomous ship technology by 2025.
MTI, alongside sister entity Japan Marine Science Inc, is spearheading the Designing the Future of Fully Autonomous Ships Plus (DFFAS+) consortium, comprising 51 Japan-based companies that will work together on the next phase of MEGURI2040.
Orca AI’s advanced AI and computer vision technology have already proven to be key enablers of the safety of autonomous navigation, and we look forward to leveraging this cutting-edge technology in the DFFAS+ project.
… said Dr Hideyuki Ando, Director of MTI
The first phase of MEGURI2040 culminated in May 2022 with the autonomous trial voyage of the 749-gt NYK shortsea containership Suzaku in congested waters off Japan’s east coast.
Equipped with Orca AI’s automated watchkeeper, to replace the human lookout, the vessel achieved 40 hours of navigation with complete autonomy, or around 98% of the voyage between Tokyo Bay and the port of Tsumatsusaka in Ise Bay.
Data from the integrated display was live streamed to the fleet operations centre in Tokyo, with the ship performing 107 collision avoidance manoeuvres and avoiding up to 500 other vessels en route.
MTI and Orca AI’s shared approach of collaborative innovation, out-of-the-box thinking and a ‘nothing is impossible’ mindset is the basis of this strong partnership. This collaboration will bring us closer to a future of fully autonomous navigation
… commented Orca AI’s CEO and Co-founder, Yarden Gross.
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