Rolls-Royce has signed a deal with Mitsui O.S.K. (MOL), to collaborate in the development of its awareness system. I will be installed on the passenger ferry »Sunflower«.
The 165 m vessel, owned and operated by a subsidiary company from MOL, operates on a 222-nautical mile route [ds_preview]between Kobe and Oita via the Akashi Kaikyo, Bisan Seto and Kurushima Straits.
Rolls-Royce awareness systems should make vessels safer, easier and more efficient to operate by providing crew with an enhanced understanding of their vessel’s surroundings. This will be achieved by fusing data from a range of sensors with information from existing ship systems; such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) and radar. Data from other sources, including global databases, will also have a role Rolls-Royce stated.
Rolls-Royce expects to be able to undertake an Approval of Concept and have its awareness product commercially available in 2018.
The system builds on experiences from R&D work worldwide. It will benefit from Rolls-Royce’s experience in the Tekes funded project Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA), which has been running since June 2015. The company has been conducting a series of tests of the sensor arrays in a range of operating and climatic conditions on board Finferries’ 65 m double ended ferry »Stella«, which operates between Korpo and Houtskär in the Archipelago Sea on the southwest coast of Finland.
