The Gulfmark Offshore PSV Highland Chieftain was controlled for a period of almost four hours in the North Sea off Scotland by an operator sat 8,000 km away in San Diego.
The vessel was taken through a series of manoeuvres using a combination of dynamic positioning a joystick control – a short video of which can be viewed below.
Wärtsilä Nacos Platinum package for Navigation, Automation and Dynamic Positioning systems, as well as a Wärtsilä drives package and underwent 30 hours of software upgrades. The test was carried out using standard bandwith satellite communications.
“One of the first and most critical hurdles to overcome along the path to the enablement of intelligent shipping is to develop efficient and reliable remote control and monitoring capabilities, taking factors such as bandwidth limitations and cyber security into consideration,” said Andrea Morgante, head of digital, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.
“This test provides a clear indication that we are well on the way to achieving this. The fact that the ship was enabled for remote operation in only a few hours is a strong endorsement of Wärtsilä’s position at the forefront of marine technology development.”
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