Autonomous container ship successfully completed the 790 km route

Developed by Japan’s Nippon Foundation as part of the Fully Autonomous Ship Programme, Suzaku has pioneered a milestone in the full-scale adoption of autonomous ship technologies.

May be ready for commercial use in 2025

For the container ship, the use of a comprehensive fully autonomous navigation system in a high-traffic area has been realized for the first time. Suzaku autonomously completed most of the 790km round-trip route in the test between Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay, where around 500 ships pass every day.

Equipped with a system that provides real-time detection, tracking, classification and range estimation with the help of 18 onboard cameras that provide 360° vision day and night, the autonomous container ship performed 107 evasive maneuvers during the 40-hour tests.

Suzaku, It was developed as a collaborative effort by more than 30 companies, and the Nippon Foundation says the ship will be ready for commercial use by 2025. Thanks to the popularization of autonomous ships, the foundation thinks Japan alone could generate $8 billion in economic benefits.