The Russian maritime industry is moving forward aggressively
with plans to deploy autonomous navigation systems on its commercial shipping
fleet.
Russian technology company Kronshtadt Technologies announced
that has entered into agreements to equip 20 domestic cargo and passenger ships
with the systems that it expects to start installing in 2021. Morspetsservice
and SeaEnergy, both part of the MT Group, entered into agreements with
Kronshtadt to become the first companies in Russia to announce the creation of
a commercial fleet of autonomous vessels. The unmanned navigation systems will
need to be approved by the classification society RINA.
Morspetsservice will equip ten of its Sakhalin
cargo-passenger vessels and Sakhalinets multipurpose high-speed catamarans that
provide sea freight and passenger traffic in the Far East, including the
Sakhalin region, with the technology. Under the terms of the agreement with
Kronshtadt, they plan to equip the lead ships of the series, MSS Pioneer and
MSS Avangard, with the autonomous systems by August 30, 2021.
SeaEnergy intends to equip a series of ten U-Type
multipurpose general cargo vessels with autonomous navigation systems. The
9,300-ton ships began operating in 2020 in the waters of the Black Sea, the Sea
of Azov, and the Mediterranean Sea. The lead vessel in the series, the Kamilla,
is scheduled to be equipped with the advanced system by December 31, 2021.
These steps are part of a broader effort across Russia for
the deployment of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) and the development
of a full range of technical systems for autonomous navigation. Russian Prime
Minister Mikhail Mishustin recently approved a decree to support the
introduction of a national-wide experiment in MASS operations. It allows every
shipping company to test MASS operations.
The project is being led by the Russian Industry Association
MARINET which is also overseeing sea trials of technical solutions being
completed onboard several vessels of SCF, Rosmorport, and Pola Group. The tests
are ongoing during the commercial operations of the vessels.
“The developed solutions are based on the Comprehensive
Functional Equivalence principle, which supposes strict fulfillment of the
functions prescribed today for the crew on board by the current safety
regulation in the autonomous mode,” said Alexander Pinskiy, head of MARINET.
“In general, we automated step-by-step almost every navigation function defined
by STCW Code and Russian regulation in environment analysis, ship maneuvering,
ship, and technical systems control. It gave us a clear scope of requirements
for the technical solutions and allows operating MASS within the framework of
the current international regulation.”
Pinskiy said that the plan is to equip at least 100
autonomous vessels under the Russian flag in the next three years.