New ROC for 200m ferries to be certified and opened soon

🎯 Equipment and preparation for certification of the remote operation center for rail/vehicle carriers “Marshal Rokossovsky” and “General Chernyakhovsky” is started in Saint-Petersburg. The 200-meters carriers will operate on more than 500 miles route between the ports of Ust-Luga and Baltiisk on the Baltic Sea. In 2022 Rosmorport, one of the largest European port fleet owners, has revealed entering into a contract with maritime solutions provider Sitronics for equipment of two autonomous rail/vehicle carriers. Earlier Sitronics received approval for autonomous navigation technology by the Register of Shipping, which was based on the results of the world’s largest MASS trial project in real conditions.

The experiment on MASS operation was approved by the Russian government in December 2020 and allows every shipping company to conduct regular MASS operation as a part of the experiment. The Regulation on the experiments is based on the IMO Interim Guidelines for MASS trials and establishes the experiment period till December 2025, when the IMO MASS Code is expected to be approved.

In 2022 Rosmorport, one of the largest European port fleet owners, has revealed entering into a contract with maritime solutions provider Sitronics for equipment of two autonomous rail/vehicle carriers. Earlier Sitronics received approval for autonomous navigation technology by the Register of Shipping, which was based on the results of the world’s largest MASS trial project in real conditions.

🎤 “The autonomous navigation technology has been tried on several ships for more than a year. In 2021 alone, 28 voyages were carried out, in which the technology was tested and proved to be applicable in practice”, said Nikolai Pozhidaev, President of Sitronics.

📆 The experiment on MASS operation was approved by the Russian government in December 2020 and allows every shipping company to conduct regular MASS operation as a part of the experiment. The Regulation on the experiments is based on the IMO Interim Guidelines for MASS trials and establishes the experiment period till December 2025, when the IMO MASS Code is expected to be approved.

Both vessels, “Marshal Rokossovsky” and “General Chernyakhovsky”, will get RCMC-MCDS MASS category in accordance with RS Rules. Also, the carriers will employ the first seafarers to be certified for MASS use.

🎤 “We expect that the introduction of autonomous navigation technology will significantly reduce the risks of navigation accidents connected with the human factor. Also, already at the first stage of new technology implementation we are expecting as high as 10% decrease in some operation costs on each carrier”, said Kirill Gayda, DPA Rosmorport.

Also, the carriers will employ the first seafarers to be certified for MASS use. In September 2022, to meet the need in qualified personnel for MASS use, the Ministry of Transport has developed a set of advanced training programs for MASS personnel based on the applicable standards of the 1978 STCW Convention and Code and taking into account the practical experience of MASS use. To support the training process, a simulator has been developed for the simulation of navigational conditions, MASS systems and RCS that allow training MASS personnel for various conditions and scenarios. The simulator is based on the open platform of virtual modeling of autonomous navigation being developed under MARINET in 2020-2022 and is deployed at the Russian University of Transport to begin training and certification of MASS personnel from 2023.

🎤 “This is important step towards practical autonomous navigation”, – said Alexander Pinskiy, head of MARINET Industry Association and leader of a-Navigation development. “Going through all the process – from the ship classification, certification by State Flag administration and port authority to seafarers training and certification – we establish standards and open doors for further autonomous ships operated widely”.

📃📷 Source: MARINET