ABS, Polaris Shipping, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), and AVIKUS have entered a Concept Study Agreement to develop a Conditional Unmanned Bridge for autonomous navigation on Polaris’s 325K Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs). This initiative aims to enable unmanned operations during specific low-risk conditions, such as open-ocean passages, rather than fully autonomous voyages.
Patrick Ryan, ABS’s Senior Vice President, emphasized the complexity of integrating various systems for safe unmanned bridge operations. The project aligns with the IMO’s Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) Code, marking it as a practical step toward autonomous shipping. Polaris Shipping’s COO, DoHoon Kim, noted the suitability of the 325K VLOC for this concept, highlighting the importance of real operational data to define human and automated operational boundaries.
AVIKUS’s Co-CEO, Jaeho Kang, stated that this unmanned bridge could be the first autonomous shipping model to comply with the IMO MASS Code. Each party will contribute to defining operational concepts, technical requirements, and vessel design modifications, while ABS will ensure safety and regulatory compliance. The collaborative effort aims to prepare for commercial deployment of this groundbreaking autonomous shipping concept.
