Royal IHC TechWord of the Month: Assisted autonomy

The maritime industry is facing a shortage of skilled crew. At the same time, vessels need to operate more efficiently and safely to keep up with increasing demands.

Autonomous technology is emerging as a key solution to bridging this gap, said Royal IHC. This approach allows certain vessel operations to be controlled autonomously, but always under human supervision.

“At Royal IHC, we are taking this concept further with the development of Mission Master – a high-level control system that enables a semi-autonomous workflow for hopper dredgers (TSHDs),” the company said.

It marks the first step towards a future where dredging vessels will operate largely autonomously, controlled remotely from the shore and minimal crew required on board.

How does it work?

• Operates at automation level A2 (Bureau Veritas) – performs actions autonomously, always under human supervision,
• Delegates tasks to the Dredging Control System (DCS) and Dynamic Positioning & Dynamic Tracking (DPDT) system, ensuring precise orchestration of dredging and sailing operations,
• Boosts operational efficiency.