World's First Autonomous Ferry Starts Serving Japanese Society

JAKARTA - Passenger ships equipped with autonomous navigation systems have started sailing between Okayama and Shodoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, since last month.

Although there are crew members on board the ship to monitor the journey and respond to emergencies, this technology is expected to help reduce the shortage of crew members faced by the shipping industry, as well as prevent accidents.

According to the project operator, this is the world's first commercial autonomous ship, reported The Japan News (1/1).

The ferry Olympia Dream Seto detected the location of another ship using data synthesis from automatic identification systems, radars, and other equipment.

The ferry, which has a capacity of around 500 passengers and is operated by the Okayama City-based Ryobi Group, is 65.56 meters long and has a gross weight of 942 tons.

The ship makes four round trips per day between Shin-Okayama Port and Tonosho Port on the island.

The project is backed by a consortium of 53 entities, including The Nippon Foundation and ship- and shipping-building companies. They have been working on the project since 2020 and have conducted several demonstrations.

On December 5, the ship's autonomous navigation system passed an inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

During the demonstration held on December 10, the ship's captain only monitored the navigation route and the position of surrounding ships on a monitor, without touching any controls.

Other vessels were deliberately placed in the ferry lanes as obstacles during the demonstration, but the Olympia Dream Seto accurately detected their positions using radar and other methods and calculated a safe route to avoid them.

The process of docking and undocking usually requires the skills and experience of a helmsman, but the ferry even does that process autonomously.

An official from The Nippon Foundation quoted data showing that human error is responsible for 80 percent of maritime accidents.

"Although humans tend to experience concentration lapses, autonomous navigation can maintain a consistent level of performance," the official explained.

The consortium aims to start operating three other autonomous vessels on other routes in March.

"Based on the data we have obtained from commercial operations, we hope to contribute to the creation of international regulations for autonomous ships," said Nippon Foundation Executive Director Mitsuyuki Unno.