Norway’s Kongsberg Maritime and the UK’s Automated Ships have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build the first unmanned and fully automated vessel for offshore operations.
In January 2017, Automated Ships will contract the vessel, Hronn, which will be designed and built in Norway in cooperation with Kongsberg. Sea trials will take place in Norway’s newly designated automated vessel test bed in the Trondheim fjord and will be conducted under the auspices of classification society, DNV GL, and the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA).
She is a light-duty, offshore utility ship servicing the offshore energy, scientific/hydrographic and offshore fish-farming industries. Her intended uses include, but are not limited to: survey, remotely operated vehicle (ROV), autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), launch & recovery, light intermodal cargo delivery and delivery to offshore installations, and open-water fish farm support. The vessel can also be utilised as a standby vessel, able to provide firefighting support to an offshore platform working in cooperation with manned vessels.
Automated Ships is currently in discussion with several end-users that will act as early-adopters, and to establish a base-rate for operations and secure contracts for Hronn offshore in the near future.
She will initially operate and function primarily as a remotely piloted ship, in ‘man-in-the-loop’ control mode, but will transition to fully automated, and ultimately autonomous operations as the control algorithms are developed concurrently during remotely piloted operations.
