Of course, berthing and unberthing is automatic!
Mitsui O.S.K.
From February 6th (Sun) to 7th (Mon), 2022, the same ship sailed from Tomakomai in Hokkaido to Oarai in Ibaraki on an actual commercial route of about 750km and unmanned for about 18 hours. . It is part of the unmanned ship project "MEGURI2040" promoted by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and The Nippon Foundation.
Based on the success of this demonstration test, MOL has developed the "Automatic Berthing Technology", "Automatic Avoidance System", and "Target Visualization Image Processing/Range Measurement Technology" even during such long voyages. I have verified that it works.
According to the Nippon Foundation, in addition to the conventional AIS (Automatic Identification System) and radar, a visible light camera and an infrared camera that can also be used at night are used to detect other ships navigating the sea. Based on information captured by sensors and cameras, it was recognized as another ship by AI (artificial intelligence) learning, and collision avoidance algorithms were used to avoid collisions. Also, for monitoring on land, an ARAR (Augmented Reality) navigation system that displays various information overlaid on the video from the ship was used.
About 80% of logistics between Hokkaido and Kanto is by sea. Mitsuyuki Unno, Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation, said, "If unmanned navigation technology becomes available for large ferries that travel long distances and long hours, we expect that it will greatly contribute to reducing the burden on seafarers on such important routes. I am doing it.
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[Automatic avoidance of other ships] AR navigation that supports unmanned navigation
Looking back on the 50-year history of the long-distance ferry "Sunflower"