Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and its group companies MTI, Keihin Dock, and Japan Marine Science (JMS) have successfully tested the remote navigation of a tugboat as a part of the Japanese government’s Sea Trial Project on Remote Control Navigation.

Within Tokyo Bay, a tugboat equipped with a manned remotely controlled system was operated remotely from an operation center in the city of Nishinomiya in Hyogo prefecture approximately 400 kilometers away. This tugboat was maneuvered approximately 12 kilometers in Tokyo Bay between an area off Honmoku and an area off the port of Yokosuka.

The operator in the remote operation center was able to use sensors and cameras equipped to the tugboat to recognize surrounding conditions and created a route plan and action plan. The operator shared the plans with the tugboat captain, who then approved them. The conditions that remotely navigated tugboat proceeded operations in accordance with the approved route plan and action plan were confirmed and evaluated.

«In the future, NYK and its group companies will work to overcome ship-to-shore communication issues that were revealed during this experiment, further improve the system, and aim to start remote navigation tests using domestic coastal ships within this year. We will continue to work with our partners to develop technology for large vessels in the future».

To date, the NYK Group has been working with nautical instrument manufacturers and partners to develop a manned remotely controlled system that can support the crew. Such a system would collect, integrate, and analyze information around the ship, prepare an action plan, and after the approval of operators at remote locations or on board, take action in accordance with the plan.

The demonstration highlights the complexity of remote navigation, even at a crew assistance level.

A video of the operation can be seen HERE.