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Rolls-Royce publishes vision of the future of autonomous shipping

A white paper published by the Rolls-Royce led Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) outlines the project’s vision of how remote and autonomous shipping will become a reality. Published to coincide with its presentations at the Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 in Amsterdam, the AAWA whitepaper explores the research carried out to date on the business case for autonomous applications, the safety and security implications of designing and operating remotely operated ships,
July 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal white paper Visit www.rolls-royce.com website false http://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/marine/services/ship-intelligence/remote-and-autonomous-operations.aspx false false%> published by the Rolls-Royce led Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) outlines the project’s vision of how remote and autonomous shipping will become a reality.

Published to coincide with its presentations at the Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 in Amsterdam, the AAWA whitepaper explores the research carried out to date on the business case for autonomous applications, the safety and security implications of designing and operating remotely operated ships, the legal and regulatory dimensions and the existence and readiness of a supplier network to deliver commercially applicable products in the short to medium term.

Tests of sensor arrays are being carried out aboard a Finferries 65 metre double ended ferry, which operates between Korpo and Houtskär. ESL Shipping is helping explore the implications of remote and autonomous ships for the short sea cargo sector.

The whitepaper draws on a wide range of expertise from academic researchers from some of Finland’s leading universities and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, with input from members of the maritime cluster including Rolls-Royce, Brighthouse NAPA, Deltamarin, DNV GL and Inmarsat.  The project also has the support of ship owners and operators.

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