Automated ship

ClassNK has granted its "AUTO-Nav2(All)" notation to domestic liner container ship Genbu, the only newly constructed autonomous ship under the MEGURI2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Program by The Nippon Foundation. It marks the world's first case of an autonomous navigation notation being assigned to a vessel operating on medium- to long-distance coastal routes. In recent years, the research and development of technology related to autonomous surface ships has been actively carried out with the aims of improving safety by preventing human error, and improving working conditions by reducing the workload on crew members. Particularly in Japan, autonomous ships are expected to sail daily routes to many inhabited remote islands and to continue domestic shipping business in place of ageing seafarers.