Keppel Offshore & Marine’s harbour tug Maju 510 has become the first vessel in the world to receive an Autonomous and Remote-Control Navigation Notation from classification society ABS and first Singapore-flagged vessel to receive the Smart (Autonomous) Notation from MPA, following the successful conclusion of autonomous collision avoidance trials conducted at Raffles Reserved Anchorage, off Singapore Island.
Owned and operated by Keppel Smit Towage, a member of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, the vessel had already secured an ABS Remote-Control Navigation Notation, following initial remote operation trials at the Port of Singapore in April 2021.
The latest trials verified a further level of autonomy in vessel operations, demonstrating automated situational awareness, collision avoidance, and manoeuvring control using Ability Marine Pilot Vision and Marine Pilot Control technology from ABB.
The 32m tug demonstrated its ability to autonomously avoid collisions in various scenarios, such as when two other vessels approach simultaneously on colliding paths and when a nearby vessel behaves erratically. The trials were supervised by an onboard tug master.
“I had the pleasure of being aboard Maju 510 during the collision avoidance trials and experiencing how smoothly the tug performed in autonomous mode,” said Romi Kaushal, Managing Director, Keppel Smit Towage.
“What I found particularly impressive was how the digital system identified one or several risks in the tug’s planned path and responded to set the vessel on a new, safer course. The vessel performed as if it was operated by an experienced tug master.”
