Completion of World’s First^*1 ‘Fleet Operation Center’ for Remote Navigation Support for Multiple Fully Autonomous ShipsThe Nippon Foundation MEGURI2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Program makes steady progress toward social implementation in 2025

The Nippon Foundation has been spearheading the MEGURI2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Program since February 2020. On July 18, 2024, the Fleet Operation Center (also known as the Remote Operation Center), which has been under development to provide remote navigation support for multiple ships from land, was completed within the headquarters of FURUNO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. (Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture). At a press conference held on the same day, Mitsuyuki Unno, Executive Director of the Nippon Foundation, said, “The completion of the world’s first Fleet Operation Center for multiple ships is a major step forward. We will bring together all-Japan technologies to put autonomous ships into practical use by 2025.” The Fleet Operation Center will provide remote navigation support for four autonomous ships simultaneously in a series of demonstration tests to be conducted in July 2025.

In Stage1 of MEGURI2040, autonomous operation of six ships was successfully demonstrated from January to March 2022. In the ongoing Stage2, MEGURI2040 aims not only to conduct demonstration tests, but also to address social implementation and then accelerate the project toward achieving the goal of having 50% of ships running in Japan operating autonomously by 2040.

Fully autonomous ships are expected to help solve various issues including reducing maritime accidents and resolving labor shortages in shipping, and are being researched and developed as a “future industry” that can take advantage of Japan’s advanced technologies, including information and communications technology (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI), and image analysis on a global scale. In particular, as expectations for marine transportation are rising in response to the recent “2024 problem” in logistics (from newly introduced limits on truck drivers’ overtime), this technology is also attracting attention as a promising solution that can contribute to resolving shortages of human resources (ship crew members) in supply chains.

The Nippon Foundation will continue to develop and implement technologies for fully autonomous ships in Japan and foster further social understanding to maintain stable logistics by addressing issues including the declining numbers and aging of ships’ crews, as well as maritime accidents in the coastal shipping industry, which accounts for 40% of Japan’s domestic logistics.^*2

Current development status of the MEGURI 2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Project

In Stage1, from January to March 2022, demonstrations were conducted in Tokyo Bay, a sea area with heavy vessel traffic (congested sea area), as well as long-distance, long-duration (12 hours or more) fully autonomous navigation demonstrations.

Utilizing the findings of Stage1, we are currently aiming for social implementation for remote island passenger ships that serve the islands of the Seto Inland Sea and for RoRo ships carrying raw milk and agricultural and livestock products. By demonstrating fully autonomous navigation with four ships from FY2025 and making 50% of coastal ships fully autonomous by 2040, we aim to help alleviate crew shortages and improve the safety of ships.

Role of the Fleet Operation Center in a fully autonomous navigation system

A fully autonomous navigation system consists of: (1) “Ships” that perform autonomous functions; (2) “Land-based fleet operation support” that assists ships from land; and (3) “Communications (satellite communications)” that handle communication lines and information management and control. In MEGURI2040 Stage2, in addition to the permanent Fleet Operation Center that was completed today, a mobile Fleet Operation Center (scheduled for completion in October) will provide remote navigation support for multiple vessels.

Functions and development features of the Fleet Operation Center

In Stage1, with a round-trip distance of 790 km, the fully autonomous navigation system achieved a high utilization rate of 97.4% on the onward journey and 99.7% on the return journey. A few areas for possible operational improvement remain, however, including the fact that a single operation center supported only one ship at a time. Based on these results, the newly completed Fleet Operation Center will be the first in the world to be capable of providing remote navigation support for multiple ships. In next year’s demonstration test, the Fleet Operation Center will provide remote navigation support for four ships simultaneously.