Autonomous and Remote Navigation Trial Project

Autonomous and Remote Navigation Trial Project (ARNTP, a-Navigation Trial Project) is the world’s largest trial of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) in real conditions, implemented as a part of the MARINET roadmap of the National Technology Initiative supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, with the involvement of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

The purpose of the project is to establish technical and legal conditions for the wide operation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) under the Russian flag by shipping companies from 2021 .

The tasks of the project are:

• the development and testing in real conditions of the standard set of technical systems enabling autonomous navigation and applicable for any existing commercial vessel.
• the development of legislation adopting autonomous navigation to the current maritime law, in compliance with the current conventional regulation and safety requirements.

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MIKHAIL ULYANOV , shuttle tanker owned by SCF, operating in Barents Sea

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POLA ANFISA general cargo ship owned by Pola Rise, currently operating in Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea

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RABOCHAYA, motor barge owned by Rosmorport, currently operating in Black Sea and Azov Sea together with REDUT dredger

At the beginning of 2020, Russia notified the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on holding the world's largest Autonomous Navigation Trial Project with the probation of the full range of autonomous navigation systems on several ships in real operation conditions.

History and participants

In November 2018, during the Transport Week Forum Alexander Pinskiy, the project author, has announced large and ambitious trial project on autonomous navigation in real conditions.

On January 30, 2019, a group of the leading Russian shipping companies, technology companies, and maritime universities have established the joint working group under the umbrella of Industry Association MARINET involving: Rosmorport, SCF, Pola Group, Sitronics KT (general contractor and system integrator), Air and Marine Electronics, Research Institute of Special Projects, Russian Satellite Communications Company, SCANEX, Research Institute Neptun, Gentral Research Institute KURS, Maritime State University named after admiral G.I. Nevelskoy, Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

In 2019, the basic methodology titled as "The Complete Functional Equivalence Principle", the system architecture, and the system prototypes were developed and subjected to risk assessment.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has signed with Sitronics KT the 4,5 MUSD R&D contract "The Unmanned Navigation for Merchant Fleet" supporting the trial project.

By September 2020, the project team has developed the proposals for national MASS regulation. Meanwhile, software solutions had been tested ashore using simulators, experimental equipment had been manufactured and installed onboard of four vessels under the supervision of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. From October 2020, the first stage of the trail operation had been started: collection of field data from ships and analysis of systems operation without possibility to directly control the ships by new systems.

In November 2020, the project was presented by Alexander Pinskiy to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin during the "Powerful Ideas for New Times" forum arranged by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The project was welcomed by Vladimir Putin who ordered to support regulatory development and provide government stimulus for implementation and production of autonomous navigation systems in Russia. On December 5, 2020, the Government Decree on Wide National Experiment on a-Navigation was approved.

In February 2021, Rosmorport unveiled the first video confirming the start of the second stage of the trial operation: tests of automatic and remote control of ships in real conditions under the supervision of the crew. Later on, other videos of the trial operation of ships participating in the a-Navigation Trial Project were distributed .

Technical systems development

The a-Navigation technology assumes the maximum use of existing technical and navigation systems on board, incl. mandatory ones.

The system architecture

Currently, there are widely used Unattended Machinery Spaces, which do not require the constant presence of the crew in engine rooms. Together with mandatory equipment on board, they are integrated in a single complex with the key a-Navigation systems:

• Autonomous Navigation System (ANS)

The ANS performs the functions of automatic analysis of the environment, the passage along a given route (in automatic mode and remote control mode), offering automatic decision-making on maneuvering, while taking into account the parameters of the vessel and International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) provisions. The ANS includes Sensor Fusion Module (SFM), Automatic Collision Avoidance Module (ACAM), and ANS Client (representing an extended functionality of Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS).

The Sensor Fusion Module (SFM) integrates, synchronizes, and validates navigational data from various sources such as the radar, AIS, positioning, compass, weather station, etc., and the optical system. This is similar to an officer onboard who has to gather data from all of these navigational devices by his eyes and integrate them into a single picture in his mind.

The Automatic Collision Avoidance Module (ACAM) keeps to the route and calculates the maneuvers of the vessel to avoid collisions with other vessels and navigational hazards in accordance with rules determined by COLREGs. These detailed rules are provided as per clear official recommendations from the Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport for automatic collision avoidance systems. Strictly determined algorithms of this nature make MASS 100% predictable, even in comparison with a traditionally crewed ship.

The ANS Client integrates all the data from mandatory and additional electronic charts (such as ICE or SAT images) as well as any other available information and presents it via human interfaces that are similar to ECDIS.

• Optical Surveillance and Analysis System (OSA)

The OSA is an optical system that detects and recognizes surrounding objects. It transmits this data in a machine-readable form to the ANS while also sending the processed video image to human interfaces (such as the Remote Control Station).

The OSA resolves the challenging task fulfilling the conventional requirements to provide visual observation in a completely autonomous mode while sitting in parallel to human-operated remote mode. At the same time, the OSA allows us to improve the quality of situational awareness for humans, both on board and in the RCS. Augmented Reality (an image with additional indicative information) and even completely virtual models (in case of poor visibility or problems with the communication channel between the remote control and the vessel) may well become common everyday tools of navigators in the near future.

• Remote Control Station (RCS)

The RCS is a workstation for a remote control operator and is designed to solve the entire range of remote monitoring and control tasks. It is located outside the controlled vessel and is the equivalent of a highly ergonomic ship's bridge and a central control station.

Also, the a-Navigation technological complex involves the use of such systems as:

• Coordinated Motion Control System (CMS)

The CMS transmits ANS commands to the ship actuators. It, thus, performs the same functions as the helmsman who converts the officer's orders to actions regarding steering and engine control.

The existing ship heading or a trajectory control system are used as CMS in the a-Navigation complex. Currently CMS allows support through human control or follows a given trajectory with high accuracy while taking into account existing weather conditions and the ship model. Connection of CMS to ANS allows control of propulsion and steering systems, both automatically and remotely.

• Communication systems

All a-Navigation systems are combined into one local area network, including a VPN tunnel between onboard systems and the Remote Control Station. This local network is protected from an unauthorized access using data encryption, a firewall to protect the perimeter, and controls and restricts sockets.

The data exchange between the onboard network segment and the remote systems is carried out by wireless communication channels. Depending on the MASS operation conditions, communication facilities may include:

- satellite communications (in any waters): VSAT, Inmarsat, Iridium, etc.;

- mobile communications (within the coverage area of mobile networks): CDMA, 3G, 4G;

- direct radio link (in the line of sight, for example, during Convoy Navigation).

• Internal CCTV

Internal CCTV provides various tasks like indoor video recording, automatic control over the condition of rooms (movement, change of geometric parameters, etc.), equipment (change of indication, switch states, etc.), cargo (displacement, crumbling, tilt and other parameters), and the transmission of this video information to the Remote Control Station.

Regulation development

In accordance with a-Navigation approach, to ensure the widespread use of MASS in real conditions, they must fully enforce the implementation of all existing management functions provided for by the current international regulation for the ship's crew. This will ensure, on the one hand, the uniformity of regulation in relation to the global fleet, and on the other hand, it will reduce the risks and fears regarding the new technology. This, therefore, guarantees that MASS, when interacting with other actors, will be guided by and perform well-known and mandatory functions.

Based on this approach the project participants have developed several legal documents:

• Federal Law "On Amendments to the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation and certain legislative acts in terms of legal relations arising from the operation of autonomous ships" prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade together with Industry Association MARINET.
• Decree by the Russian government approved the national experiment on a wide MASS trial operation, allowing any shipping company to equip its ship under the Russian flag with autonomous navigation systems and to use it in its regular activity.
• Recommendation on COLREGs application for autonomous navigation issued by the Federal Agency on Maritime and River Transportation of the Russian Federation.
• Rules for MASS classification issued by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

In December 2020, the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping issued the Approval in Principle for the complex of a-Navigation systems.

The principle of Complete Functional Equivalence presupposes the full performance of all functions prescribed for the crew on board by current safety regulation (SOLAS, COLREGs, STCW), regardless of control methods, including through the use of automatic and remote control.

To comply with the principle of Complete Functional Equivalence, the operation of MASS include symbiosis of the three control methods - automatic, remote, and manual, the choice of each should be determined by the shipping company depending on the prevailing conditions, the type of the vessel, and the nature of her operations. For example, use of automatic control on the high seas under normal conditions in accordance with COLREGs, radio communication with other ships carried out using the remote control, and traditional control used in extremely difficult conditions, including the situations where the officer in charge of the watch is nowadays required to immediately notify the master of the ship in accordance with the STCW. But in any case, at each moment, MASS as a whole shall comply with the principle of Complete Functional Equivalence - i.e., the full range of functions currently provided for the crew on board.