Wärtsilä and PSA Marine have successfully completed initial sea trials for the IntelliTug project. PSA Polaris, a harbour tug owned and operated by PSA Marine, has been retrofitted with a suite of Wärtsilä technology to enable autonomous navigation.
The project is a collaboration between technology provider Wärtsilä, marine services provider PSA Marine, classification society Lloyd’s Register, the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore (TCOMS), and co-funded by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund.
Carried out in Singapore, the trials commenced in September 2019. They verified the IntelliTug capability to avoid a variety of obstacles, including virtual and real-life moving vessels. These trials are Singapore’s first for commercial Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) using the MPA MASS regulatory sandbox, which has been established to facilitate the testing of MASS and other autonomous technologies in a safe and controlled environment within the Port of Singapore.
The IntelliTug trials are part of MPA’s MASS initiative, which aims to accelerate the industry’s research and development (R&D) capability in this field and validate new MASS-related concepts of operations and technologies. This would enable technology developers, the research community, and maritime stakeholders to capture future MASS-related opportunities.
“It is critical that we prepare the Port of Singapore for MASS. With MPA’s MASS regulatory
sandbox, I am glad that Singapore can contribute to the sea trials and eventual adoption of
MASS. We will be happy to share our MASS experience with other ports and coastal
administrations,” said Captain M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive (Operations) of MPA.
An Intelligent Tug for Future Operations
The PSA Polaris is a 27-metre harbour tug with dual azimuth thruster controls. It has been fitted with a sensor suite, including Wärtsilä’s RS24 near-field high resolution radar and Wärtsilä’s Dynamic Positioning (DP) system, to enable autonomous capabilities. Data collection via the sensors has been ongoing since the start of the project in conjunction with the development of a collision avoidance algorithm.
The project is aimed at developing and field-testing intelligent vessel capabilities and viable
pathways towards smarter, safer, and more efficient ways of operating a harbour tug. This is achieved through the use of design-thinking and the provision of human-centric technology to optimise collaboration between man and machine.
Rigorous Testing for Autonomous Development
Before sea trials commenced, system integration and digital testing began with the use of
Wärtsilä’s autonomous ship simulator. TCOMS has carried out further validation of the various data gathered from the sensor suite, as well as real-world performance of the tug through a physics-based digital twin that incorporated the effects of the physical environment faced in the sea trials. Lloyd’s Register has been closely involved throughout the project to support the development of the trials’ safety case, while collaborating on the human factors and technology design processes.
“Wärtsilä has further progressed to more complicated test cases, previously attempted in digital batch testing and digital first-person simulation. The design of the test cases was a collaborative effort involving Tug Masters and a Master Mariner, with close review and continuous refinement with MPA throughout the project”, said Thomas Brightwell, SACA Software Manager of Wärtsilä.
