Inmarsat joins autonomous vessel research project

The global mobile satellite communications services provider will participate in the $7.3 million Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative, which is being led by English automobile and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.    Global mobile satellite communications services provider announced it will join a recently-launched autonomous vessel research project headed by English automobile and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.
   The 6.6 million euro (U.S. $7.3 million) Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative was designed to bring together universities, ship designers, equipment manufacturers, and classification societies to research the technology and regulatory issues surrounding remote-controlled and self-driving ships.
   The project is funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, Tekes, and is expected to run through 2015.
   Inmarsat will be responsible for providing a satellite communications link and platform – essential to remote control capability – for the initiative.
   “Data transfer between ships, as well as between ships and shore-based control centers, is one of the key development areas for remote controlled and autonomous ship research and forms a fundamental element of the AAWA Initiative,” the company said in a statement. “The AAWA Initiative will build on existing ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication platforms and their effectiveness for supporting remote control functionality. Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service, delivered through the company’s Global Xpress and L-band constellations, is the world’s first hybrid Ka/L-band mobile satellite system, forms the basis of the system.”
   “Fleet Xpress will enable the ship-to-shore communications required to support the remote control functionality fundamental to the realization of the autonomous ship,” added Inmarsat Maritime President Ronald Spithout. “The high-performance, high-throughput network will open up unlimited possibilities for maritime applications and real-time monitoring and analysis of data, for smarter shipping today and the future. We are delighted to be partnering on this project with some of the world’s most innovative companies and institutions, and to be working at the forefront of this evolving technology.”
   “The wide-ranging project will look at research carried out to date, before exploring the business case for autonomous applications, the safety and security implications of designing and operating remotely operated ships, the legal and regulatory implications and the existence and readiness of a supplier network able to deliver commercially applicable products in the short to medium term,” said Esa Jokioinen, head of Rolls-Royce’s Blue Ocean team. “The technological work stream will be led by Rolls-Royce and encompass expertise from across a range of world-leading capabilities within the marine market. We are pleased to have partners, such as Inmarsat, as part of that team, enabling us to take the first concrete steps towards making remote controlled and autonomous ship applications a reality.”