Wärtsilä Voyage launches Wärtsilä SmartMove Suite to the global shipping market, says a press release published on their website.
Semi-autonomous sailing features
This flagship offering for semi-autonomous sailing features the industry’s most advanced sensors and high-accuracy ship control systems, effectively taking the concept of automated dock-to-dock operations to the next level.
Retrofittable
Fully retrofittable, the SmartMove Suite can soup-up existing vessels with next-generation capabilities to improve safety, efficiency and productivity on the water.
The technology enables navigation officers to perform at a higher level.
The first SmartMove Suite order
The first order was placed by American Steamship Company (ASC), a subsidiary of Rand-ASC Holdings LLC, and has been installed on the MV American Courage.
About the vessel
MV American Courage, a 194 metres Great Lakes self-unloading bulk freighter with a cargo carrying capacity of 24,300 gross tonnage.
This is the largest ship ever capable of performing automated docking and dock-to-dock sailing operations.
The winding, often narrowing Cuyahoga River in Ohio, US, can be heavily congested, making it by far the most challenging of shipping routes for any vessel using automated sailing and docking technology.
Wärtsilä solution successfully tested
The Wärtsilä solution has been successfully tested on the American Courage since March 2020.
According to Pierre Pelletreau VP of Engineering, Rand-ASC Holdings LLC, they chose to partner with Wärtsilä Voyage based on their ability to bring their diverse subject matter experts into a cohesive team to deliver comprehensive solutions to complex challenges.
How it works
Wärtsilä Voyage provides a standard hardware setup with redundant controllers and displays, along with a sensor suite (comprising gyro, MRU, wind, and GNSS sensors).
This is connected to a single digital platform through which five software products are available:
- SmartDock,
- SmartTransit,
- SmartEntry,
- SmartPredict, and
- SmartDrive.
The core blocks of software (including controllers, sensor processing, Thruster Allocation Logic and track follow) are sourced from Wärtsilä Voyage’s Dynamic Positioning portfolio, which has been in use over many years in some of the world’s harshest environments.
Wärtsilä Voyage director’s comment
“To understand the challenges and true innovations of these technologies, you have to grasp the complexities of modern vessels with all of the components conducting specific functions independently. We are effectively making each component “smart” so that the ship itself becomes the sum of the parts and is capable of working as efficiently and smartly as possible. Decades of research and maritime data, multiple unrivalled technologies, real-world testing, engineering, and data have gone into this solution, and we’re pleased to be celebrating a new era of smart navigation together with American Steamship Company,” says Thomas Pedersen, Director, Automation & Dynamic Positioning, Wärtsilä Voyage.
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Source: Wärtsilä
