Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (April 2020)

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AUTONOMOUS WORKBOATS

In August 2019, Sea Machines demonstrated a vessel equipped for autonomous marine oil spill response .

Credit: Sea Machines tions that will de?ne how the vessel is managed and operated and each of the conditions and modes of operations that the vessel will be in.”

A vessel works in several periods of operations – in port, maneuvering, at sea, on station, standby, etc. – and each has potential for autonomous function- ality to be utilized, yet other cases might require more human direct engagement,

Carlucci explains. “Right now, much of the autonomous development is fo- cused on the crews still being there and autonomy simply aiding or augmenting the capabilities of the crew on board.”

And that’s where companies like Sea

Machines come into play. The ?rm has developed advanced remote and autono- mous control technologies for workboats and other commercial surface vessels.

Don Black, the company’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, says, “Autonomy is not about taking people out of the 29 www.marinelink.com MN