Russia equips commercial fleet with autonomous navigation systems

Russian technology company Kronshtadt Technologies has entered into agreements to equip a series of domestic cargo and passenger ships with autonomous navigation systems.

Earlier this week, Kronshtadt signed memoranda of agreement with compatriot shipping companies Morspetsservice and SeaEnergy, part of MT Group.

With this move, Morspetsservice and SeaEnergy have become the first companies in Russia to announce the creation of a commercial fleet of autonomous vessels.

Specifically, the agreements define projects and names of the first twenty vessels, the schedule of their equipment, the location of onshore monitoring and control centers for autonomous vessels.

As informed, Morspetsservice decided to equip a series of ten Sakhalin cargo-passenger vessels and Sakhalinets multipurpose high-speed catamarans to provide sea freight and passenger traffic in the Far East, including the Sakhalin region. Under the terms of the signed agreement, the lead ships of the series, MSS Pioneer and MSS Avangard, are planned to be equipped with autonomous systems by 30 August 2021.

SeaEnergy intends to equip a series of ten U-Type multipurpose general cargo vessels with autonomous navigation systems. The 9,300-tonne ships began operating this year in the waters of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The lead vessel in the series, Kamilla, is scheduled to be equipped with the advanced system by 31 December 2021.