An autonomous maritime ecosystem is to be created by 2025 under the One Sea project, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Harri Kulmala, representative of DIMECC, the project coordinator, as saying in at the seminar dedicated to new shipping technologies (Turku, Finland).
According to him, the project based on private-public partnership involves Wartsila, Rolls Royce, ABB, Meyer Turku, FinnFerries, Ericsson, Cargotec etc.
As part of the project, a maritime test area has been created on the west coast of Finland, near the town of Rauma. The water area intended for testing autonomous vessels is 17.85 kilometers long and 7.1 kilometers wide. This area is open to anyone wishing to test autonomous maritime traffic, vessels, or technologies related to it. The first tests are scheduled for 2018.
According to DIMECC, the ecosystem will let decrease logistical costs by 30-40%.
In his turn, Karno Tenuovo, Senior Vice President, Ship Intelligence, Rolls Royce, said at the seminar, that that the first autonomous tug has been built with a plan to create a fleet of autonomous auxiliary ships by 2020 and autonomous feeder ships by 2025.
According to calculations provided by Karno Tenuovo, the costs for maintenance of an autonomous vessel are lower by 22% on the average as compared with maintenance of a conventional vessel.
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