Modern ships are noted to be highly automated and are increasingly dependent on software-based control systems. A significant shift is expected in the way in which the maritime industry manages information. This summary report is based on a large study commissioned by Business Finland and Future Watch service regarding the leading countries in developing the solutions for digital ships.

1. 11
Digital Ships Project
Supporting Business Finland to Drive Faster Export
Success By Improving Insight On Trends

2. 22
Project Context, Objectives and Approach
• Modern ships are noted to
be highly automated and
are increasingly dependent
on software-based control
systems. A significant shift
is expected in the way in
which the maritime industry
manages information.
• Business Finland wanted
to gather market
intelligence on the topic of
‘Digital ships’.
• Digital ships refers to the
application of digital
technologies to the shipping
industry.
• To conduct research on the topic of
Digital Ships, to gather specific
intelligence on
− Technology development
− Technology adoption, and
− Benchmarking of countries
Context
Objectives
Approach
• Tech Scouting, selecting
and shortlisting countries
based on preliminary
analysis
• Country Benchmarking,
benchmarking countries
based on technology
development, adoption
status, stakeholder
ecosystem
• Prioritization
• mapping country
attractiveness re which
countries are competent in
marine digitization

3. 33
Project Scope , Definition and Coverage
Definition: Digital Ship & AI
Digital Ship refers to the application of digital technologies such as machine learning, data analytics,
visualization (augmented/virtual), cloud and advanced wireless communications technology to the shipping
industry
Geographies Technologies Covered
• Simulation/Digital Twin
• Big data
• Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning
• Cybersecurity
• Sensors
• Robotics
• Image/Video analytics (including surveillance)
• Advanced wireless communication
technologies
• Navigation technologies (including LIDAR/
SONAR and other location-mapping)
• Autonomous systems (including remote-
controlled/ autonomous vessels)
Norway
Holland Germany
Japan
US
Singapore

4. 44
Prioritized Countries
Countries across the world have made efforts to modernize their shipping infrastructure. Public private
partnerships has been a prevalent model to accelerate marine digitalization.
Country
Inclination
Towards R&D
Spending
IP (CY 2016-
2018)
Technology
Adoption
Status
Technology
Readiness
Level
Degree of
Focus on
Emerging
Applications
Final Score
Ranking
Low - 1
Medium - 2
High - 3
<1000 - 1
1001-5000 - 2
>5000 - 3
Low - 1
Medium - 2
High - 3
TRL 1,2,3,4 - 1
TRL 5,6,7,8 - 2
TRL 8,9 - 3
Low - 1
Medium - 2
High - 3
Weightage 10% 10% 40% 30% 10%
Japan 3 3 2 2 3 2.3
USA 2 3 2 2 3 2.2
Germany 2 2 2 2 2 2
Norway 3 1 2 2 3 2.1
Singapore 3 1 2 2 3 2.1
Holland 1 1 2 1 2 1.5
Finland 2 1 2 2 2 1.9

5. 55
Country Assessment - Japan
“AI will enable a digital captain at the holographic command center to conduct vessel operations with
higher accuracy, safety, and efficiency.”
Atsushi Sora, Chief Digital Officer, JRCS
Funding Activity
Japanese and Scottish companies are collaborating to
develop subsea technologies. A total of £8 million was
invested in the first phase of the collaboration and the
second phase saw investments upward of £15 million.
Focus on Robotics
The country is highly competent in robotics technology .
Companies and institutes including University of Tokyo &
Kyushu Institute of Technology, Yanmar & JAMESTEC are
working on projects focused on autonomous maritime robots
and auto-docking & auto-navigation systems.
• Fujitsu has multiple marine digitization projects in Japan
with regards to sensors, IoT and Big data.
• Has developed a maritime big data platform to collect
operational data.
• Partnered with Yamaha and used IoT to improve sailing
efficiency of a dinghy.
• Developed a miniaturized photodetector for high-
sensitivity infrared cameras in the ship’s navigation
system.
Launched a project to
leverage artificial intelligence,
mixed reality and other
pioneering technologies for
promoting workstyle
innovation in marine
industries.
Developed and
demonstrated autonomous
pilot technology for auto-
docking system and auto-
navigation of a robotic boat.
Prominent Institutions

6. 66
Country Assessment - United States
“There are so many ways to take advantage of the data that we already have. It could be our financial
systems, it could be any of our functional areas.”
Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare
Funding Activity
American Association of Port Authorities have identified the
need for $4 billion in port and supply chain security needs
over the next 10 years.
Focus on Digitization
United States is a world leader in digital technologies.
Institutions in the country have benefited from this and have
adopted technologies such as cloud, AI and AR/VR faster
then others.
• US navy has been one of the leading technology hubs
globally in the area of marine defense.
• Has used Blockchain to develop supply chain system.
• Is using AR/VR to train fleet on operating ships.
• Using AI to develop predictive analytics capabilities with
a focus on condition monitoring and reliability testing.
Princess cruises has used
wearbles and AI for
passenger analytics.
Royal Caribbean is
implementing a micro
services architecture to
streamline operations.
American Bureau of Shipping
implemented an in depth
cyber risk analysis solution
for maritime sector to protect
assets, operations and
critical suppliers.
Prominent Institutions

7. 77
Country Assessment - Germany
“We have many questions to address concerning the future. We must get to grips with Industry 4.0, with
digitalization and how this will change supply chains. We must develop the port to enable it to play a
prominent role.”
Frank Horch, Senator for Economics, Transport and Innovation
Funding Activity
The Government of Germany is supporting German ports in
the exploration and development of innovative port
technologies and also in transshipment with the Initiative for
Innovative Port Technologies (IHATEC) launched in 2016.
The programme has a budget totalling approx. EUR 64
million and is set to run until 2020.
Maritime Agenda 2025
Digitization is key focus of the “Maritime Agenda 2025”
approved by the Federal Cabinet. Government initiatives and
funding efforts are providing targeted support for research
and development of innovative real time technologies
bringing safety and security.
• Hamburg Port managed by HPA is one of the busiest
port in Europe and has implemented multiple digitization
initiatives:
• Is developing a AI tool to improve the predictions of
maritime and land transports.
• Is testing 5G for real time communication from ship to
shore.
• Is using Big data based system for traffic monitoring.
• Is using IoT based communications to connect port to
ships.
Hamburg Süd has jointly
participated in several
blockchain pilot projects to
digitally verify the
counterfeiting of products
and to eliminate
paperwork.
5G trials are being
conducted at the port of
Hamburg to transmit the
movement of ships in real
time across the port,
controlling traffic lights, data
transmission and remote
control center operation.
Prominent Institutions

8. 88
Country Assessment - Norway
“Currently, we are at the very beginning of this development, but we see and believe that there will be a
significant market for these types of services in the near future. At first, short sea shipping will use
autonomous ships.”
Thomas Wilhelmsen, CEO, Wilhelmsen Group
Funding Activity
Norway is working with International Maritime Organization to
achieve 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050 compared to
2008 under a project named GreenVoyage-2050. The Government
of Norway is providing funding of NOK 10,000,000 for the initial
two years, focusing on the initial eight pilot countries and is
looking to expand the funding in 2020.
Autonomous Ship Testing
Norway has been highly active in developing and testing
technologies for Autonomous Shipping and has launched
multiple test beds for the same.
• Kongsberg Maritime and Wilhelmsen are prominent
Norwegian companies working on the digitization of the
country’s shipping industry.
• The companies have collaborated to establish a
company focused on developing a holistic supply chain
of autonomous shipping.
The Royal Norwegian
Navy is using VR based
solutions to simulate flight
training on ship decks or
on land.
Navtor has collaborated with
Weathernews to launch an
artificial intelligence based
route planning service for
marine navigation and
optimization of route
planning and fuel savings.
Prominent Institutions

9. 99
Country Assessment - Singapore
“As a global hub port and leading International Maritime Centre, Singapore believes that it is well-
positioned to leverage on the ongoing revolution in ICT, smart devices and Internet of Things (IoT).”
Andrew Tan, Chief Executive, MPA
Funding Activity
In 2018 Martime Cluster Fund by MPA granted SGD 50,000
in form of seed funding to 13 startups.
Got SGD 100 Million from Singapore Government to promote
Technology adoption.
Benefitting from Location
Convenient connectivity, a stable and encouraging political
regulatory environment coupled with the fact that the country
is one of the major tech hubs in the Asia Pacific makes
Singapore one of the better positioned countries to be a
leader in marine digitization.
• The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore is leading
digitization efforts and has collaborated with multiple
private and public stakeholders such as IBM, PSA
Corporation and Fujitsu for a wide range of projects.
• Worked with IBM and PIL on Blockchain in Supply Chain
• Plans to leverage UAVs for ship inspection
• Launched Living Lab, an initiative to help technology
adoption
Collaborating with PIL, MPA,
PSA, Mearsk and others on
multiple projects.
A blockchain project from
IBM focused on digitizing the
bill of landing while the big
data initiative with MPA
focuses on improvement of
productivity and safety.
Involved in Blockchain trials
with IBM.
Signed an MoU with MPA to
promote additive
manufacturing.
Prominent Institutions

10. 1010
Country Assessment - Holland
“Speed and efficiency is essential to our business, and requires us to use all of the data available to us. Thanks to
real-time information about infrastructure, water, air, etc., we can enormously improve the service we provide to
everyone who uses the port, and prepare to embrace the connected, autonomous shipping of the future.”
Paul Smits, Chief Financial Officer of the Port of Rotterdam Authority
Funding Activity
In 2018, Dutch bank ING and European Investment Bank
(EIB) decided to contribute €150 million each to support
projects with a “green innovation element” in Europe’s
maritime sector.
Government Initiatives
Strong cooperation between knowledge institutes, such as
the Maritime by Holland Innovation Council and the MARIN
Advisory Council. Government also stimulates maritime
innovations by providing operational knowledge and user
know-how, by offering opportunities for tests or evaluations
or by acting as a ‘launching customer’.
• Port of Rotterdam is the busiest port in Europe and has
participated in multiple initiatives targeted at marine
digitization.
• Partnered with IBM and leveraged AI and IoT in an
ongoing effort to host autonomous ships by 2025.
• Used big data analytics for sustainable supply chain
analysis of Reefer containers.
• Partnered with ABN Amro and Samsung SDS to use
Blockchain for container logistics management.
Kranendonk is working on
using smart robotics
technologies to automate a
wide range of tasks
involved in shipbuilding.
We4Sea has launched a new
project for aiding ship owners
to reduce CO2 emissions
and increase the fuel
efficiency by utilizing big data
technology.
Prominent Institutions

11. 1111
Country Assessment - Finland
“Finferries wants to actively take part in ventures where cutting-edge technology is utilised to increase the safety of maritime
operations. We believe this cooperation will benefit both our customers and the environment as the focus is on increasing
reliability of marine traffic” Mats Rosin, CEO, Finferries
Funding Activity
Finland has backed the One Sea autonomous shipping
technology alliance with a round of funding and also has
been active in its support for the development of autonomous
shipping through domestic legislation and international
advocacy.
Leader in Arctic Shipping
Finland is one of the hubs of arctic shipping and specializes
in building and designing ships for harsh arctic environments.
• Kongsberg has been highly active in development of
technologies related to autonomous shipping.
• Collaborated with Finferries to demonstrate an
autonomous ferry.
• Is developing AR based ship command center and on
smart workstations with facial recognition with VTT.
Fleetrange provides an IoT
based solution which
captures real time data from
vessels such as ship-
tracking, traffic-monitoring,
vessel motion and live video.
Awake AI is a Smart Port and
Ship platform enabling data
exchange for autonomous
shipping
Wartsila is working on
development of AR based
techniques to support repair
and maintenance operations
on ships in dry docks or in
voyage.
ABB Marine and Ports is
focused on Automation and
Marine Software.
Prominent Institutions

12. 1212
Patent Assessment
Country
Number
of Patents
Key Focus Areas
Japan
7930
Transmission & Communication, Information and Data
Management systems
USA
746,598
Threat Monitoring and Defense, Data collection &
Marine Analytics, Navigation and Weather Forecasting
Germany
1407
Imaging & Mapping Systems, Failure and Fault
Detection, Navigation systems
Norway
120
Subsea Communication, Digital Signal Processing,
Telemetry systems
Singapore
224
Digital Payments and Claims Settlement, 3D Mapping
and Imaging
Holland
60
Communications and Networks, Distributed Sensor
Systems and Methods
Finland
509 Object tracking and Positioning
China
80926 Remote Sensing, Ship tracking systems
• United States holds the most
number of patents with regards
to shipping technologies.
• Number of patents have been
registered with regards to
autonomous shipping technology
and are focused on areas such
as shore control, Remote
navigation and Cybersecurity for
an autonomous ship.
• Themes around green shipping,
energy conservation and
environmental protection are also
gaining traction and are being
highlighted in terms of patents.
The activity around Green
Shipping practices is mostly
driven by industrial norms set by
institutionalized associations.
• They are also motivated by
customers’ demand for
environmental friendliness and
their own strategy to make good
image.

13. 1313
Country Attractiveness Mapping
While AI projects are matured with high attractiveness, blockchain based use cases are still in the emerging
stage.
High
Medium
Low
Singapore United States Finland Japan Norway Holland Germany
AI
Big
Data
Blockchain
UAVs
Cloud
AI
AR/VR
MR
Blockchain
Cloud
Cybersecurity
AI AI AI
AI AI
Big
Data
Big
Data
Big
Data
Big
Data
Big
Data
AR/VR
MR
AR/VR
MR
AR/VR
MR
AR/VR
MR
Blockchain
Blockchain
Blockchain
Blockchain
Blockchain
Cloud
Cloud
Cybersecurity
Sensors
5G
IoT
Robotics Robotics
Sensors
Automation
Technology
Readiness Level
• Basic Technology Research
• Research to prove Feasibility
• Technology Development
• Technology Demonstration
• System/ Subsystem Development
• System Test, Launch & Operations

14. 1414
Key Competency by Countries (1/3)
Singapore United States
• Efforts by government, convergence of technology
and shipping industries, ease & convenience for
maritime business are the key factors for adoption
of technology in Singapore maritime industry.
Key Applications:
• AI seems to be high in technology readiness level
due to its ability to optimize vessel’s functioning
that results in time/cost savings and safety
enhancements – Fujitsu, Singapore
Management University and Institute of High
Performance Computing have collaborated to
develop vessel traffic management at the port of
Singapore by using AI and big data analytics to
improve congestion prediction and collision
detection techniques.
• Digitization and elimination of paperwork,
container registry and shipment tracking using
blockchain technology; and process simplification
using cloud technology are other key applications
in Singapore maritime industry.
• Exponential rise in data, increasing connected
ecosystem, efforts and initiatives by government
are the key factors for adoption of technology in US
maritime industry.
Key Applications:
• US maritime industry is offering a wide variety of
application landscape with AI being high in
technology readiness level due to its ability to solve
issues through predictive measures - US Navy
Military Sealift Command has collaborated with a
artificial intelligence firm Abeyon, and developed
data analysis tool Clarifi. The tool leverages
predictive analysis functionality to monitor the
condition and reliability of ships in Navy Sealift
Command.
• Other applications such as shipping trade tracking,
transparent freight brokers and securing real-time
information using blockchain; ship inspections,
training and simulation using augmented reality.

15. 1515
Key Competency by Countries (2/3)
Japan Norway
• Rapid growth in usage of IoT technology in
maritime sector, growing trend towards
autonomous ships and collaborative work culture
are driving the development on smart ships in
Japan.
Key Applications:
• Initiatives by Japanese government has pushed
AI towards high in readiness level – Eco Marine
Power, a Japan based developer of vessel
renewable energy systems is integrating AI in a
range of its ship related technology projects using
Neural Network Consoles developed by Sony
Network Communications.
• Other applications include object detection,
classification and collision avoidance in varied
weather conditions using sensors technology;
regulating fleet purchasing process, securing
service and maintenance records, shipment
tracking and price transparency using blockchain;
reducing unplanned maintenance and asset
downtime using big data.
• Government efforts to digitize the maritime cluster
in Norway, initiatives related to green shipping that
reduce carbon emissions and shipping 4.0 are the
key factors for adoption of technology for maritime
industry in Norway.
Key Applications:
• Norway is at the pinnacle in using AI technologies.
Kongsberg group of companies commercialized AI
technology to provide technical requirements for
operating autonomous ships, by providing the
latest training simulators, delivering a maritime
digitalization platform and driving e-navigation.
• Other applications include real-time comparison of
prices, safety and security, vessel management
and predictive maintenance using big data; ship
building, remote maintenance and training using
AR/VR technologies.

16. 1616
Key Competency by Countries (3/3)
Holland Germany
• Increase in usage of IoT devices, various
government led initiatives and extensive research
and development in maritime infrastructures are
the key factors for technology adoption in
Holland.
Key Applications:
• Libelium partnered with Vicrea to develop a
wireless sensor network for managing canal
traffic by controlling the flow of boats in the
Netherlands. The companies have also
developed a novel laser solution for monitoring
speed, distance and direction. The sensor is also
used for detecting any ship and also determine
the ship movement.
• Other applications include safety and secured
navigation of ships using sensors technology,
ship inspection, cleaning and ship patrolling using
robotics, online payments and automated security
using blockchain, autonomous navigation and
predictive maintenance using AI/ML.
• Demand for energy efficient and environment
friendly ships, government push towards digitizing
the ports and usage of advanced technologies for
reducing operating costs and usage of resources
efficiently are the key factors for adoption of
advanced technologies.
Key Applications:
• Companies such as Deutsche Telekom, SAP,
Carnival Maritime are widely using big data
analytics solutions in application areas such as real
time navigation assistance, reducing water
consumption and intelligent voyage operations.
• Other applications include digitization and
elimination of paperwork, container and cargo
management using blockchain technology;
improved connectivity and reducing latency time,
transmission of 3D data in ship design and improve
shore-to-shore communications using 5g.

17. 1717
Key Government Initiatives (1/3)
• Singapore has launched a programme named
PIER71 to promote maritime innovation, where
the MPA (Maritime Port Authority of Singapore)
highlighted the need for strengthening the
infrastructure around maritime related activities
such as commodity trading, logistics and e-
commerce.
• The committee framing the report identified
autonomous systems, robotics, data analytics
and artificial intelligence as key technologies for
digital transformation of Singapore’s Maritime
industry.
• US Navy is partnering with technology vendors
to shift its owned-and-operated data centers to
Cloud.
• For this, US Navy has initiated a research,
development, test and evaluation (RDT&E)
budget request of $20.5 billion, out of which
$17.2 billion would be reserved for development
of emerging technologies.
Singapore United States

18. 1818
Key Government Initiatives (2/3)
Japan Norway
• Japan Ship Technology Research Association
(JSTRA) is a platform that establishes close
cooperation between industry, government and
academia, as well as among consignors,
shippers and shipbuilding.
• JSTRA’s major role is to deepen the level of
shared awareness with regard to issues and
challenges concerning ship technologies and
carries out projects related to regulations,
standards and R&D
• Norwegian government has framed a strategy
“Maritim21” for the research and development of
Norwegian maritime sector.
• Maritim21 aims to stimulate R&D and innovation
efforts from both companies and government
authorities to develop new technologies that can
give Norwegian companies competitive
advantage.

19. 1919
Key Government Initiatives (3/3)
• The Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands aims
to be prepared for autonomous ships by 2025.
• With other countries, the Netherlands are
operating maritime autonomous surface ships
(MASS) and will be undergoing legal and
regulatory reviews.
• Federal government in Germany has developed
a long term strategy for maritime industry
“Maritime Agenda 2025”.
• The aim of the Maritime Agenda 2025 is to
formulate parameters that apply to the whole
maritime sector for addressing key challenges
such as the automation and digitalization of
products and services, production and logistic
processes, increasing competition on global
markets, demand for skilled labour and
demographic change, maritime security and
increasing environmental and climate
standards.
Holland Germany

20. 2020
Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) &
Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M)
,Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine
(TCOMS) are developing autonomous vessels that
will be leveraged for harbor operations such as
channeling, berthing, mooring and towing. The
project is expected to be completed in the fourth
quarter of 2020.
SESAME Straits project (Secure, Efficient, and
Safe maritime traffic Management in the Straits
of Malacca and Singapore) focuses on developing
e-Navigation technology called "Just-in-time
Arrival" for reducing maritime traffic congestion,
hot spots and create automated ship-to-shore
communication for reducing waiting time and
increasing the efficiency. The project is expected
to be completed in 2020-2021.
Wärtsilä, MPA and PSA Marine
Wärtsilä has launched an acceleration center and
has co-created a project named Wärtsilä IntelliTug.
The project has created a harbor tug with
autonomous navigation in collaboration with MPA
and PSA.
Autonomous Ships Projects – Singapore
Singapore has attracted multiple international partners into
its maritime ecosystem and has collaborated with them to
develop and test autonomous ships and related
applications. The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore has
made efforts to incubate technology innovation in the
country and has partnerships with multiple companies in the
industry.

21. 2121
Autonomous Ships Projects –Norway
Norway accelerates the development of autonomous ships by launching test beds for autonomous vessels.
Norway has so far built 3 test beds for autonomous ships . The efforts are set to transform the many aspects in
the shipping and offshore operations. Norway envisions autonomous ships as safe, environment friendly and
cost effective modes of transportation. Norway is also planning to launch two more test sites Grenland and
Tromso by end of 2019.
Kongsberg Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications
(AAWA) project aims to develop design and specifications
for the next generation partially or fully autonomous ships.
AUTOSEA is a collaboration between NTNU, Kongsberg
Maritime, DNV GL and Maritime Robotics for developing
technology for automated situational awareness for ships.

22. 2222
Autonomous Ships Projects – Germany
German Government is currently searching for a suitable waterway networks to test autonomous
ships. Test sites such as urban areas in Berlin, the lower reaches Elbe river and large scale ports
have high chances to be considered as autonomous ships test sites. Germany seems to be
moving slowly in terms of testing their own autonomous ships. Projects pertaining to
autonomous ships are still in infancy stage in Germany.
MUNIN – Maritime Unmanned Navigation
through Intelligence Networks
Innovation Network SCAS (Systems and
Components for Autonomous ships)
The network SCAS of companies, research
institutes and institutions has set itself the goal
of realizing systems, components, sensors,
communication services and technologies for
partially or fully autonomous ships.
MUNIN project is a collaborative research
project, co-funded by European Commissions.
MUNIN aims to develop and verify a concept for
an autonomous ship

23. 2323
Autonomous Ships Projects – USA
Great Lakes, Michigan Test Bed:
The Smart Ships coalition announced
Great Lakes as the test bed for
testing autonomous surface and
sub-surface vehicles and related
technologies. The Great Lakes
Research Center at Michigan Tech to
supports an autonomous vessel test
bed facility, and Marine Autonomy
Research Site (MARS).
Boston Coast Trial Area:
US Navy has completed shipboard
integration testing of the Knifefish
unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV)
and the Unmanned Influence Sweep
System (UISS).
Sea Hunter Testing:
US Navy’s unmanned surface vessel
‘Sea Hunter’ completed the first
autonomous ship trial from San
Diego, California to Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii and back without the
navigation and steering crew.
The US Maritime Administration is continuously improving the US merchant marine in terms of
domestically, coastwise and internationally. In the future, a smooth shift from manual to the
autonomous surface ships will build on the United States’ strengths in sensors, communications,
artificial intelligence, robotics and marine engineering technologies.

24. 2424
Autonomous Ships Projects – Finland
Kongsberg
Kongsberg is planning to develop projects focusing
on landbased control centres, and artificial
intelligence for developing remote and autonomous
shipping operations in the future. Moreover,
Kongsberg and Stena Line work together to develop
intelligent awareness for ships.
Jaakonmeri Test Area
The Jaakonmeri Test Area was launched in August
2017 by DIMECC under the One sea ecosystem.
The test area is open to all institutions who wish to
test autonomous maritime traffic, vessels and related
technology. The area also offers partners with the
opportunities to test their vessels in adverse winter
conditions.
Finland has started pilots of Autonomous ships and has established dedicated test beds for the
same. The One Sea Ecosystem by DIMECC has seen participation from major industry players
such as ABB Marine & Ports, Ericsson and Kongsberg.

25. 2525
Autonomous Ships Projects –Japan
Sea Machines Robotics, Toyota AI Ventures and Brunswick Corp
The companies are developing autonomous ships integrated with situational
awareness, advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a
range of vessel types such as containerships.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT)
NYK and NYK Group companies MTI Co. Ltd., Keihin Dock Co. Ltd., and Japan
Marine Science Inc. (JMS) participated in a demonstration project employing
remote control and ship maneuvering support functions. Japan is looking to begin
the practical implementation of the autonomous ships by 2025.
The boxship
In 2019, Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK)
expects to test an autonomous containership called “The boxship” that would
sail from Japan to North America .
Japan leads the world in the development of autonomous ships because of the presence of established automation
and navigation technology developers. The Japanese government envisions that AI and robotic technologies plus
IoT are likely to significantly impact the Japanese marine sector that encourages businesses to invest more into
researching new technologies for autonomous applications.

26. 2626
Autonomous Ships Projects – Holland
Joint Industry Project
(JIP)
Xomnia Roboat
The Delft University of
Technology, MARIN and the
Netherlands Organisation for
Applied Scientific Research
(TNO) are researching on
autonomous vessels.
Xomnia has developed a self-
driving boat based on AI and
deep learning technologies.
The boat automatically navigates
based on the gathered data and
experience.
MIT and Amsterdam Institute for
Advanced Metropolitan Solutions
(AMS) are developing 5 year
research project called the
“Roboat” that supports in
garbage collection, delivery
services, transportation and
infrastructure.
Several companies in Holland are actively providing solutions for small and medium size autonomous vessels at
various autonomy levels. For large size vessels, some initiatives are in progress. For instance, TNO is supporting
Dutch industry to take a proactive role in the autonomous system integration for strengthening their position in the
offshore market.

27. 2727
Key Conclusions
Key Conclusion of the Study
• Japan and the USA, with high fleet values and sizes, lead the developments in marine digitization
concepts by researching and promoting various autonomous vessel research projects. Both countries are
witnessing funding support from the government for research and development in the marine digitization
ecosystem. Most of the projects engage seagoing vessels for testing and improving autonomous
technologies.
• The key technologies that are enabling the digitization concept in the marine sector are sensor, artificial
intelligence, bigdata, blockchain, cloud and cyber security.
• Artificial intelligence is a potential game changer in maritime industry across countries such as Singapore,
United States, Finland, Japan and Norway - based on the commercialization status and usage of AI in
real-world scenarios such as to predict the future course and manoeuvres of a vessel, to intelligently
optimize the route in real-time, thereby reducing the fuel costs.
• Autonomous navigation of ships, collision avoidance and the development of a manned remote
manoeuvring system, predictive & prescriptive analytics, data management & disaster recovery are the
key applications in the digital ship.

28. 2828
Key Conclusions
Key Conclusion of the Study
• As a world-leading maritime nation, Norway has taken a position at the forefront in developing and
adopting autonomous ships. The key factor driving the growth is due to the formulation of Norwegian
Forum for Autonomous Ships (NFAS) where the organizations form a group to develop projects. Many
organizations follow a partnership business model with emerging startups to develop autonomous
vessels. For instance, Wilhelmsen and KONGSBERG, have collaborated to start the new company,
called Massterly, which offers the complete value chain for autonomous ships, from design and
development for controlling systems, logistics services and vessel operations.
• Shipping industry is known to be characterized with involvement of a wide range of domestic and
international, private and public stakeholders, all of whom have to be involved in the planning of
implementation of technologies such as blockchain. Having a centralized authority or a facilitator for
marine digitization has helped countries in their digitization initiatives. For example MPA, Singapore and
Port of Hamburg, Germany.

29. 2929
Key Conclusion of the Study
DISCUSSION