Norwegian maritime technology company, KONGSBERG, is to collaborate with leading government and academic organisations to test technology for unmanned ships in Trondheimsfjord, northern Norway.
Kongsberg will become a major user of the test area, which is set to become a vital facility for the future of shipping, to continue its development of sensors, software and systems to facilitate autonomy of ships. It has already tested various new autonomous technology solutions in Trondheimsfjord this June.
The area has been described as an ideal location for the development of such technology thanks to its light vessel traffic, making it a safe place to conduct autonomous vehicle trials.
The designation of the test area is likely to be the world’s first coastal area specifically dedicated to the development of technology for autonomous ships. Furthermore, it is home to high levels of maritime competence through an extensive maritime technology cluster and several major academic and research organisations. A research project by the Centre for autonomous marine operations and systems, the AUTOSEA project, focuses on automated situation awareness using sensor fusion to reduce the risk of collisions between ships, will also use Trondheimsfjord when increased level of autonomy is introduced.
The Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (MARINTEK) established the initiative, while the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Trondheim Port Authority, KONGSBERG, Maritime Robotics, the Ocean Space Centre, and NTNU’s Center for Autonomous Operations and Services (AMOS) have also been involved in its development.
Gard Ueland, President, Kongsberg Seatex commented: “As far as we know, there are no such test sites of this kind in the world so the Norwegian Coastal Authorities are taking the lead in a changing maritime world. We are seeing how autonomy is coming into vehicles on land. I believe we will see some massive changes in the future leading to smart ships that will make maritime transport safer and more efficient. We will also see technology that has the potential to enable fully autonomous cargo vessels. Much of this will come from Trondheim, thanks to the unmatched maritime expertise here and our autonomous vehicles test bed.”
The Trondheimsfjord area has been officially designated as a test bed for autonomous shipping by the Norwegian Coastal Authority (NCA), during a special event in Trondheim, Norway on Friday 30th September 2016.
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