Shipping technology alliance One Sea is to work with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop autonomous vessels.
A memorandum of intent (MoI) covering future collaboration has been signed by One Sea coordinator DIMECC, a research and innovation organisation in Finland.
The agreement sets out common objectives to encourage the development of "space-based applications" for maritime digitalisation.
“This is an important statement of intent, through which One Sea and the ESA acknowledge the significance that ongoing digitalisation and autonomy have for the maritime industries,” said Jukka Merenluoto, One Sea ecosystems lead.
“Expertise from different disciplines is necessary to transform today’s connectivity capabilities for tomorrow’s needs, and this MoI represents a unique opportunity to develop applications and services that leverage assets on the ground and in space.”
DIMECC’s Jaakonmeri test area off western Finland will be used for autonomous vessels.
This will be the first dedicated test zone worldwide for the new technology.
One Sea members include ABB, Kongsberg Maritime and Wartsila, who ran separate autonomous ship trials off the Finnish and Norwegian coasts at the end of 2018.
Last month, satellite group Inmarsat and NYK research subsidiary Monohakobi Technology Institute became full members, and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) signed up as an associate member.
One Sea was set up in 2016 and also includes Tieto, Cargotec and Ericsson, with RINA and Shipbrokers Finland among the partners.
