Ice-class passenger ferry Suomenlinna II has completed a trial of a new remote control system, with the vessel remotely piloted through a test area near Helsinki harbour as part of a project carried out by ABB and Helsinki City Transport.

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics has completed six live demonstrations of it’s autonomous-command technology, completing a series of manoeuvres on a remote-commanded workboat from more than 1,500 miles away in the US.

Airbus Defence and Space has launched a new service called Ocean Finder, offering satellite-based detection and identification reports for assets at sea.

Wärtsilä and Royal Caribbean Cruises have extended their long-term service agreement to the year 2028, a package which includes remote analysis of real time engine data from Royal Caribbean Cruises’ vessels.

Rolls-Royce and Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) have completed a pilot project aboard a 165m passenger ferry, Sunflower Gold, testing the applicability of Intelligent Awareness and machine learning technologies to maritime operations.

A new COLREG-compliant collision avoidance system developed by the MTCAS project is scheduled for its first demonstration test in Germany this week, in Wilhelmshaven on September 6^th.

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, is set to launch a new intelligent prediction service for equipment on merchant vessels, which it says can predict and monitor upcoming critical issues and communicate them to users to reduce unplanned downtime.

Älvtank has begun an implementation project with Sea IT of Sweden to deliver a range of technology systems to two new vessels that are being added to the Älvtank fleet.

NYK, and its Group companies MTI, Keihin Dock Co, and Japan Marine Science (JMS), have announced their participation in a demonstration project being carried out by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT) to demonstrate remote operation of an unmanned ship.

Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has announced a deal to make Amazon Web Services (AWS) its preferred Cloud services provider as it continues development of its smart ship and autonomous vessel programmes.