At the 2017 China International Maritime Convention and Exhibition held in Shanghai, not only China's first smart ship, the first luxury cruise ship, but also the world’s first unmanned small cargo ship project has emerged. According to reports, this 500-ton unmanned ship is expected to be the first commercial operation in the world in 2019.
According to "Global Times" reporters, in recent years, with the breakthrough of sensors and smart driving technology, unmanned ships that can autonomously plan waterways and automatically avoid obstacles have matured. The US Navy's "Sea Hunter" unmanned boats have even become Start the sea trial. However, compared with these scientific research or military projects, unmanned ships used for commercial transportation have higher requirements in terms of reliability and safety. Norway is at the forefront in this regard. In July this year, it announced that it will launch the YARA Birkeland, an unmanned cargo ship capable of accommodating 100-150 containers in 2018. Together with China Classification Society and other organizations, China HNA Group also formed a development alliance for unmanned cargo ships in Shanghai and announced that by 2021, the first 87,000 tons of unmanned cargo ships will be launched. According to experts’ predictions, the global unmanned shipping market will reach the trillion-dollar level in the future.
In contrast, the world's first small unmanned cargo ship (pictured) released by China on the 6th is mainly used for inland shipping and island refueling. It operates in a relatively closed area, and small unmanned cargo ships will have easier access to relevant supervisors. Department approval, get "on the road permit."
According to the introduction, the unmanned cargo ship is named "Jindouyun" and was jointly built by China Classification Society, Zhuhai Municipal Government, Wuhan University of Technology and Yunzhou Intelligent Company, and can operate autonomously. The ship is planned to have a 500-ton capacity and is powered by electric power with a range of up to 500 nautical miles. Compared to large-scale ocean carriers, small unmanned cargo ships will quickly complete the design, construction and testing tasks. They are expected to launch at the end of 2018, and will be the first to achieve commercial operations in the world in 2019, opening the door to global unmanned shipping. â–²(Ma Jun)