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Avikus, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai, has successfully carried out autonomous navigation of a large ship across the ocean, becoming the first company in the world to accomplish such a feat. Together with SK Shipping, Avikus, which specializes in autonomous navigation, announced on June 2 that it had successfully completed autonomous navigation of Prism Courage, a 180,000 square-meter-class ultra-large LNG carrier. The vessel is equipped with HiNAS 2.0, Avikus’ Level 2 autonomous navigation solution. This transoceanic voyage is the world’s first case of a vessel using autonomous navigation technology.

The Prism Courage departed from the Freeport on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on May 1, passed through the Panama Canal, and finally arrived at the Boryeong LNG Terminal in South Chungcheong Province in Korea after 33 days. The vessel sailed half of roughly 20,000 kilometers in total distance with the autonomous navigation technology HiNAS 2.0.

Avikus’ HiNAS 2.0 is the navigation system that creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution (ISS). Its artificial intelligence recognizes the surrounding environment, such as weather and wave heights, and nearby ships, and then controls the vessel’s steering commands in real-time. The Level 2 autonomous navigation technology can control and operate the ship in addition to the functions of recognition and judgment (Level 1 autonomous navigation technology). For further information see the IDTechEx report on Electric Leisure & Sea-going Boats and Ships 2021-2040.

In this ocean crossing, the Prism Courage equipped with HiNAS 2.0 was operated autonomously on the optimal routes, increasing the fuel efficiency by around 7 percent while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 percent. Also, the system accurately recognized the locations of nearby ships during operation to avoid collision about 100 times.

This voyage was conducted under real-time monitoring of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Korea Register of Shipping (KR) to verify the performance and stability of the technology. Avikus plans to commercialize HiNAS 2.0 within this year after receiving a certification from ABS for the results of this self-propelled ocean crossing.

Autonomous navigation technology is drawing attention as an innovative technology for future maritime mobility because it can solve workforce shortages in the maritime transportation industry, reduce pollutants, and improve safety by completely removing the possibility of human errors.

According to Acute Market Reports, a global market research firm, the autonomous navigation ships and related equipment market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 12.6 percent, reaching USD 235.7 billion in 2028.

Captain Young-hoon Koh of the Prism Courage said, “Avikus’ autonomous navigation technology was greatly helpful in this ocean-crossing test especially for maintaining navigating routes, autonomously changing directions, and avoiding nearby ships, which were all increasing ship crews’ work conveniences.”

Avikus CEO Do-hyeong Lim said, “It is meaningful that we have successfully tested the Level 2 system to operate a vessel beyond the Level 1 technology providing optimal routes.” He added, “We will lead innovation by upgrading autonomous navigation solutions not only for large merchant ships but also for small leisure boats.”

Avikus was launched in December 2020 as the first in-house venture of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group. It succeeded in conducting the first fully autonomous operation of a 12-seater cruise ship in Korea, and is now redoubling its efforts to advance autonomous navigation technology before others by, for instance, cooperating with ABS for step-by-step basic certification of ship autonomous navigation technology.

Source and top image: HD Hyundai

Seagulls, according to Andy Stanford-Clark, are smiling. They are a significant obstacle from an image-processing perspective. But they are not a threat at all. In fact, you can completely ignore them.

The chief technology officer for IBM in the United Kingdom and Ireland was exuding panic. It was the afternoon before the morning when IBM”s Mayflower Autonomous Ship was set to begin its journey from Plymouth, England. to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, staffed solely by IBMs A.I. and is owned by a non-profit ocean research company ProMare. It carries a crewless, fully autonomous trimaran for years, alongside a worldwide consortium of other partners.Now, after countless tests and

Seagulls were a false alarm from an image-recognition perspective because they looked like huge wonged obstacles that needed to be avoided at all costs. However, they were also a problem given the Mayflower”s ability to completely ignore against its obstacles-avoiding instincts.

The challenge of sailing a ship autonomously isn”t the same as running an autonomous vehicle. It involves driving down predefined streets, while observing other vehicles, buses, cyclists, and pedestrians at high speed. In the open ocean, lanes are larger, and events occur far more slowly (although turning circles and stopping distance are also significant worse).

There is a big challenge here: The Mayflower Autonomous Ship will be doing its three-week autonomous crossing, which commenced June 15, with zero in the way of human interference. The course is being carried out autonomously. However, any deviation from the ship”s response to weather conditions to avoid water hazards greater than a seagull, according to IBMs A.I. and automation techniques. Any major mechanical failure (all too easy when youre sloshing around in the open ocean) and suddenly one of the world

For people like Stanford-Clark, it”s a source of worry. For curious onlookers, who can tune in to watch every step of the Mayflower Autonomous Ships progress through a livestream dashboard developedby IBM iX the company”s digital agency its just another component of the intrepid adventuring fun.

Alone together

Patrice ONeal once stated that he liked to go alone, but not be lonely. The Mayflower is undertaking its cross-ocean voyage solo, but fans from around the world may watch it. IBM”s MAS400 dashboard gives you the option to get a livestream from the boats onboard cameras. There are six cameras in all, and these are in and out to provide a few of the ships” surroundings.

Livestreaming will not be a big deal in 2021, but it is so commonplace that we will not stop worrying about it. However, livestreaming from the middle of the ocean is quite different from livestreaming from your backyard.

According to Stanford-Clark, people say once you get more than a few miles offshore, there is no cell phone signal. Then all bets are off. From that point on, all solutions are very costly and low bandwidth.

Low bandwidth might be equivalent to a YouTube video that requires a few seconds to load on 360p. However, there is still room for improvement. This feed is then then transcoded in real time with ultralow bit rate encoding techniques to allow it to be transmitted in a bandwidth that, at times, can be as low as 6kbps. That is, in turn, the low bandwidths are due to satellite connectivity, which at best passes at 200kbps and also has to include the telemetry data.

ProMareand IBM and Videosoft, a company that specializes in producing the technology that permits livestreaming in extremely challenging environments with minimal bandwidth. According to Stewart McCone, the CEO of Videosoft, are partnering with Digital Trends.

In cases in which such a high-bandwidth video dropout might be fatal, Videosoft has long developed algorithms and other tools. This includes clients such as the police and the military. The company”s technology is capable of not only stream in low-bandwidth situations, but also to automatically adapt to available bandwidth to encode and transmit it at the highest possible quality.

McCone said he would combine the main challenge of streaming video from the middle of the ocean to using space. It”s a very, very, very similar challenge.

It”s also harder to get a video from a Mars rover in real time due to the distances involved, but the footage is expected to be live with a latency of two weeks at worst, negating the ability to do slow data transfers at a higher quality.

Capturing the public imagination

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, on the other hand, is IBM”s first bold televised challenge. Its 1997 and the Deep Blue series of chess matches with grandmaster Garry Kasparov captured the public”s imagination more than any other public A.I. demonstration of the last century. This century, the 2011 Jeopardy! showdown between question-answering A.I. Watson and show winners Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, which has produced the highest audience numbers in over half

Will the ProMares robot ship be a similar triumph of A.I. as both of those previous milestones? Or will it tosputter to a halt somewhere in the middle of the ocean? Whatever happens, thanks to IBM”s dashboard and some very smart compression technology, you”ll be able to tune in to follow along.

Source: https://techmarmot.com/article/23833/the-ibms-a-i-mayflower-ship-is-crossing-the-atlantic-and-you-can-watch-it-live/

Avikus Corp., a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, is planning to expand the application of its autonomous navigation solutions to leisure boats.

On July 12, the company demonstrated the self-navigation of a leisure boat for the first time in Korea. The leisure boat powered by the self-driving solution NAS 2.0 showed more delicate movements than when it was operated by humans. In particular, the boat’s anchoring technology through auto-docking stood out. Cameras on the boat analyzed surroundings, so the boat turned its hull 90 degrees to accurately enter an anchorage, which is about 3.5 meters wide per unit.

Abikus plans to expand its autonomous navigation business to the boat sector from the end of this year. “The self-navigation market is now beginning to open, so there is no clear strong player in the market yet,” said Lim Do-hyung, CEO of Avikus. “If we secure self-navigation technology ahead of others, we will be able to secure leadership as the first mover.”

“High value-added ships are produced in hundreds of units a year around the world, but leisure boats constitute a larger market as more than 10 million units are produced a year,” Lim said. “We will hold a demonstration session at the largest boat exhibition in the United States at the end of October.”

The company provides Hyundai intelligent Navigation Assistant System (HiNAS) for large merchant ships and Avikus intelligent Boat Autonomous Solution (AiBOAT) for boats. HiNAS has two options, Navigation Assistant System (NAS) and Berthing Assistant System (BAS), while AiBOAT has four options: NAS, Docking Assistant System (DAS), NAS 2.0, and DAS 2.0.

NAS, BAS, and DAS are degree 1 autonomous solutions that assist sailors. NAS 2.0 and DAS 2.0 are degree 2 solutions that replace sailor’s recognition, decision, and control capabilities completely.

Airbus’ giant, ultralight, ultra-high-endurance Zephyr S drone has stayed aloft for longer than any unmanned aircraft in history – and its success could bring new capabilities for maritime surveillance and GPS-like positioning.

Zephyr S is a 150-pound, hand-launched drone built for high altitude operations. It flies in its own sky at 80,000 feet, far from commercial traffic and immune to the vagaries of the weather. Its 80-foot wingspan and solar-cell power are enough to keep it aloft for weeks at a stately pace of 30 knots.

The drone prototype took off from the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground on June 15, and it has now been continuously aloft for 27 days. Most of that time has been spent circling over Arizona, but last month, the operators also decided to take it for a trial run over water to Belize and back.

Open source flight data from the ADS-B Exchange tracked Zephyr over Texas and the U.S. Gulf on June 27. The plane showed up again over Belize City on June 29 and headed back home the next day, according to tracking compiled by The Drive.

This route took Zephyr S near prime smuggling territory in the western Caribbean, the area off Central America constantly monitored by the U.S. government for anti-narcotics enforcement. The Army has its own reasons for testing out Zephyr, but maritime security is one of the platform’s original applications: as a “high altitude pseudo-satellite,” Zephyr can hold position and monitor an ocean area for an indefinite period of time. Airbus has also worked on a “Zephyr T” variant for heavier-payload maritime missions.

Under the Army’s sponsorship, the platform might also take on the role of a GPS backup system. GPS’ weak signals are relatively simple to spoof or jam, and some geographic areas (like the northern Black Sea) are notorious for GPS meddling. A platform located nearer to earth – like a pseudo-satellite – could deliver a stronger signal and provide an backup to conventional GPS. Zephyr’s Army sponsors have spoken of the possibility of a resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) mission for the drone, and the Army unit tasked with operating the program is the Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team, part of Army Futures Command.

Multiple PNT options

Zephyr could be one of several novel PNT alternatives under research by the military. The U.S. Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Science Foundation recently underwrote a successful trial to use signals from the Starlink commercial satellite fleet for positioning – a task for which Starlink was never intended.

Starlink accounts for about half of all working satellites in orbit – 2,500 strong and growing – and with ONR’s backing, a team at Ohio State University figured out how to pick up and process enough information from the satellites’ signals to calculate a position to within about eight meters. As the Starlink fleet grows, the speed and accuracy of the positioning technique will go up, lead researcher Zak Kassas told Ars Technica. The lab bench setup is complex and isn’t ready for use on the bridge just yet – nor is it an authorized Starlink product – but in future it could provide a resilient alternative for navigation.

Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/airbus-record-setting-drone-could-change-maritime-isr-or-backstop-gps

SpaceX has launched its Starlink service into the maritime sector.

The service will offer high-speed, low-latency internet with up to 350 Mbps download while at sea.

Starlink Maritime is designed for merchant ships, yachts, oil rigs, and more to deliver connectivity from the most remote locations at sea. It is reportedly easy to install with a small footprint, minimal above deck space required, and an easy to install mount.

In addition, Starlink Maritime is being offered as a pay-as-you-go service, giving users the ability to pause and un-pause service at any time, and is billed in one month increments, allowing users to customise their service to their individual needs.

Source: https://thedigitalship.com/news/maritime-satellite-communications/item/7950-spacex-launches-starlink-maritime

Press Release: All radio traffic on the emergency channel that reaches Sweden is now transcribed by artificial intelligence (AI) and shown to the operators at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Gothenburg within a second. Keywords, such as “Mayday”, “SOS”, “help” and “sinking”, are clearly marked and cannot be missed.

The Swedish Maritime Administration, together with the Swedish companies Tenfifty AB and Maranics AB, has conducted a research and innovation project during the past two years. Earlier this
year, a full-scale test was launched of an emergency call detection system that uses the very latest AI technology. The system will be in operational use until the autumn when an evaluation will be made.

It was Tobias Nicander, rescue leader at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, who already in 2009 came up with the idea of getting help with listening to the emergency channel. Calls can sometimes be difficult to interpret because the signals are weak and the messages are incoherent. In addition, there is always the risk that the operator is already working on an alarm when a new case arises. There is thus a small risk of missing a call, but by transcribing all calls, the risk is reduced. The technology did not exist when Tobias got the idea, but 10 years later, technology has caught up.

“Not only do we get the calls texted, we have also defined keywords that should be clearly marked and should remain on our screens until we say that we have seen them. We also receive
documentation of what has been said on the channel, which can be helpful in improving the process in the future. It serves, for example, as a perfect base for education”, says Tobias Nicander.

Already on the first day, the system drew the operators’ attention to two “Mayday” calls: one in Germany and one in Denmark. This shows that the AI solution can interpret even weak signals and that the operators really get the help they want, to be able to make even better assessments in the future. In addition, it shows that the reach of the Swedish coastal radio network is good enough. The solution will not replace the operators. It is developed with the goal of relieving and supporting the operators in their daily work.

Source: https://fathom.world/artificial-intelligence-helps-search-and-rescue/

The Korean Register (KR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with KLCSM and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to research and approve the application of autonomous navigation systems for medium to large vessels.

The agreement will accelerate the commercialisation and international competitiveness of domestic autonomous ship equipment and technology, establishing a truly autonomous ship-based operating system.

According to the MOU, SHI’s autonomous navigation system, known as Samsung Autonomous Ship (SAS), will be applied to KLCSM’s fleet of operational vessels.

“KR will provide technical support for this project in order to further the development and operation autonomous navigation systems,” said YEON Kyujin, Head of Plan Approval Center at KR.

Through the system, it will be possible to carry out risk assessments, develop and certify cyber security systems and review the compliance of various agreements and standards for future domestic approval.

“With this latest joint cooperation, more autonomous navigation systems will be successfully applied to ships, which will further increase the efficiency of ship management,” said KWON Ohgil, Managing Director of KLCSM, adding, “We also expect to improve vessel safety and improve the environment of ship operations amid a current shortage of sailors.”

Moreover, SHI will carry out a comprehensive collaboration for the commercialisation of autonomous navigation systems through the certification of ship equipment and the Marine Equipment Directive (MED) for Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) modules.

KIM Hyunjo, Director of the Marine Shipbuilding Research Center of SHI, said that “SHI is focusing its capabilities on the research and development for the commercialization of autonomous navigation technologies for ocean and coastal navigation, including conducting practical ship operations based on the maritime demonstration of our own SAS autonomous navigation system.”

Source: Container News

The API Insights Lab allows commercial and public entities to build their own unique workflows by implementing APIs from Windward’s robust Insights Catalog

LONDON, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Windward (LSE: WNWD), the leading Maritime AI^™ company, announced today the launch of its API Insights Lab. The Lab enables customers and partners to integrate Windward’s Maritime AI™ directly into internal systems to enhance solutions, processes, and workflows with customized insights to fit their unique needs and risk appetite. The Insights Lab includes the full Maritime AI™ Insights Catalog and the following off-the-shelf API packages: Due Diligence and Compliance, Ocean Freight Visibility (OFV), Homeland Security, and Behavioral Analysis.

The APIs utilize advanced GraphQL technology that enables users to integrate them with minimal effort and time, and easily receive the exact Windward data analysis they need to complete their due diligence and investigation processes.

The API Insights Lab allows customers and partners to explore Windward’s Insights Catalog and choose any API or dataset they want, creating their own bundle of Maritime AI™ insights. The Catalog includes insights related to areas of interest, vessel behavior, maritime and non-maritime companies, and shipment risk levels. This empowers users to optimize their workflows and decision-making processes with AI-driven insights and automatic push notifications in real-time. Solution providers can also partner with Windward to build applications for their clients, utilizing Windward’s unique and valuable data and insights.

Windward also offers off-the-shelf API packages that include the company’s insights bundled together to cater to specific sectors and workflows. The Due Diligence & Compliance package provides compliance risk recommendations, enriching existing due diligence and vetting processes, improving efficiency. The OFV package empowers customers to accurately track ocean container shipments with Maritime AI™ ETA Predictions and receive constant updates on status changes and risk of delay.

The Behavioral Analysis package delivers both historical and recent vessel data in a single response, along with customized, automatic alerts, so users can track behavioral changes over time. The Homeland Security package provides law enforcement agencies with data and alerts regarding vessel behavior, allowing them to stay on top of patterns and discover new leads based on anomalous behavior and geographical relevancy.

“With the launch of our API Insights Lab, we are empowering our partners and customers to build their own bespoke solutions and workflows with best-in-class Maritime AI™ insights,” said Ami Daniel, Co-Founder and CEO of Windward. “We already see customers using our APIs for a variety of use cases, including a leading energy company that customized our compliance risk scores and integrated them into their IT platform, and a digital freight solution provider that partnered with us to enhance its platform by providing visibility and predictability of their shipments to all their users. We are proud to give our clients the power of Maritime AI™ in their own domain – enabling them and their customers to make decisions better, faster, and with confidence.”

SOURCE Windward

ShipXplorer has announced the official launch of its new web tracking portal and ship tracker, powered by its parent company AirNav Systems, with the stated aim of creating the world’s largest AIS-based ship tracking network.

ShipXplorer says it aims to leverage growing demand in the market to build out a terrestrial tracking network along the coastline of over 80 countries, supplementing this coastal network of ground stations with strategic partnerships with satellite data providers to achieve 100% AIS coverage.

“This is a significant and exciting step in the growth of our company,” said Andre Brandao, CEO of ShipXplorer.

“The ship tracking industry has always been a goal for us. We are very proud to enter this new market to offer new solutions to the industry that is constantly looking for tools to meet the new challenges faced by the maritime and ship industry.”

Alongside its tracking service the company has also developed a range of AIS tracking hardware products, its ShipXplorer AIS Dongle, which acts as a USB signal receiver, as well as an omnidirectional ShipXplorer AIS Antenna and its SeaRange AIS Receiver for decoding and displaying AIS transmissions.

Source: https://smartmaritimenetwork.com/2022/06/28/shipxplorer-launches-online-ais-based-vessel-tracking-service/

Greywing co-founders – CTO, Hrishi Olickel (left) and CEO, Nick Clarke (right)

Greywing and Dataloy Systems have entered into a strategic partnership to facilitate data collection via API integrations.

The partnership combines the synergies from Dataloy´s global voyage management platform with Greywing’s crew-change automation software, promoting a more integrated and transparent ecosystem.

This integration provides clients with equitable crew planning opportunities. By onboarding Dataloy’s feeds onto the Greywing platform, the onboarding time for mutual clients is reduced and new clients are able to benefit from the integration’s added data points on the platform.

“We believe in an industry with more connections and fewer tech silos, where customers should be able to own their data. That is why we don’t and will not charge customers for integrations to any information we hold,” said Hrishi Olickel, CTO of Greywing. “We are excited to welcome Dataloy Systems as our technology partner and look forward to achieving true maritime disruption with them.”

Greywing’s flagship product enables users to plan and execute a crew change in under 60 seconds. It is reportedly easy to integrate with, delivering a simple interface and providing savings across three domains: cost, carbon, and time.

Nick Clarke, Greywing CEO, said: “Greywing’s Crew Change is a must have product whether you work in the commercial, crewing or decarbonisation team within a vessel operator. Greywing saves fleet managers hard cash by streamlining crew changes, finding cost-effective flights and agencies, planning routes (or rerouting if necessary), and reducing delays, all of which have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the supply chain.”

“We are very excited about our strategic partnership with Greywing, which is the first of its kind, allowing two parallel operations – crew management and voyage operations – to seamlessly connect for smoother operations. Crew automation is a complex area of work that is critical to operational efficiency. Having a system that truly assists in managing this complexity is advantageous, and we believe that integrating with Dataloy’s VMS will add exponential value for our customers,” stated said Hege Jacobsen, head of partner relations, Dataloy Systems.

Source: https://thedigitalship.com/news/maritime-software/item/7929-greywing-and-dataloy-enter-strategic-partnership

Newer Posts

Older Posts

World First Autonomous Transoceanic Voyage of a Large Merchant Ship

The IBMs A.I. Mayflower ship is crossing the Atlantic, and you can watch it live

Alone together

Capturing the public imagination

Avikus Aims to Get Ahead in Self-navigation Market as First Mover

Record-Setting Drone Could Change Maritime ISR – or Backstop GPS

SpaceX launches Starlink Maritime

Artificial Intelligence helps Search and Rescue

KR, KLCSM and SHI sign agreement on autonomous navigation systems

Windward Launches API Insights Lab Enabling Partners and Customers to Power Their Solutions with Maritime AI™

ShipXplorer launches online AIS-based vessel tracking service

Greywing and Dataloy enter strategic partnership

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