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Space age technology

Developed by Rolls-Royce in partnership with Svitzer, the heart of this breakthrough technology is the space-age captain’s chair, from where far-away vessels can be manoeuvred safely with precise control.

In February, Rolls-Royce and Svitzer successfully demonstrated the world’s first remotely-operated commercial vessel in Copenhagen. In the presence of members of the companies’ senior management, the 28m long tug Svitzer Hermod safely conducted a number of remotely-controlled manoeuvres consistent with normal tug operations.

From the quayside in Copenhagen harbour, the vessel’s captain, stationed at the vessel’s remote base at Svitzer headquarters, berthed the vessel alongside the quay, undocked, turned 360°, and piloted it to the Svitzer HQ, before docking again. The vessel had a fully-qualified captain and crew on board throughout to ensure safe operation in the event of a system failure.

Both management teams expressed their surprise and delight at the sophisticated level of remote operations achieved in the project’s four-month life. Mikael Mäkinen, Rolls-Royce President – Marine, said: “It was an honour to be present at what I believe was a world first and a genuinely historic moment for the maritime industry. We’ve been saying for a couple of years that a remotely-operated commercial vessel would be in operation by the end of the decade.

Thanks to a unique combination of Svitzer’s operational knowledge and our technological expertise, we have made that vision a reality much sooner than we anticipated.” Kristian Brauner, Chief Technology Officer, Svitzer, said: “Disruption through innovation is happening in almost every industry and sector and technology will also be transforming the maritime industry. “As the largest global towage company, Svitzer is actively engaging in projects that allow us to explore innovative ways to improve the safety and efficiency of towage operations to benefit our customers and our crews.

“With its direct impact on our customer performance, operational cost and environmental footprint vessel efficiency remains a main driver now and going forward. We are proud to be partnering with Rolls-Royce in this high-level research and development of systems for remote operation.” The story began 12 months earlier in conditions of great secrecy. Svitzer had identified the potential disruptive impact of autonomous technologies and was determined to be ahead of the game.

Turning concept into reality 

Following a worldwide research exercise to identify companies with the right expertise they selected Rolls-Royce as the best fit with its aspirations. 

In August 2016 a joint project team began work on designing, building and equipping the tug. According to Karno Tenovuo, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President, Ship Intelligence: “The technologies needed to make remote operations a reality exist. The challenge was to combine them cost effectively and securely in a marine environment proving the concept works.”

“At the heart of the system,” according to Tenovuo, “is sensor fusion, combining input from multiple sensors to work together to give the captain a better understanding of what is happening around the ship than they would have standing on the bridge itself.” The system was built with ‘off-the-shelf’, commercially available marine products, including high definition cameras with infra-red capability, radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR).

These were combined with a digital map of the harbour to offer the captain interchangeable layers of insight presented on a curved ‘video wall’ in front of him. A Rolls-Royce Dynamic Positioning (DP) system, the first ever installed on a tug, gave the captain very precise control over the placement and movement of the vessel. Advanced DP Mode also allowed automatic heading and course control in higher speed than normal DP.

Control is exercised from the Remote Operations Centre (ROC) housed in a purpose-built and secure room in Svitzer’s headquarters. According to the project’s
industrial design lead, Sauli Sipilä: “We didn’t want to be limited by the boundaries imposed copying the design of existing bridges.” Instead they sought to use “ergonomic and human-centric design” principles to create the best surroundings and experience for the captain to feel confident in control.

At the centre of the ROC is the captain’s chair, placed in front of the ‘video wall’.

“The technologies needed to make remote operations a reality exist. The challenge was to combine them cost effectively and securely in a marine environment proving the concept works.”

Karno Tenovuo, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President, Ship Intelligence
Karno Tenovuo
Senior Vice President, Ship Intelligence - Rolls-Royce

Disruption through innovation

Space-age captains chairAt the centre of the ROC is the captain’s chair, placed in front of the ‘video wall’. The DP joystick and thruster controls are integrated into the chair’s consoles. Immediately in front of the chair arms are two screens, one on each side. These show images from the radar to the left and the DP control system to the right. Further to the right, another smaller screen allows him to change the images he sees on the video wall. An Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) monitor sits on the floor in front of him. A headset allows easy communication.

The project team anticipated that their biggest challenge would be connectivity and having sufficient coverage and bandwidth to deliver data from the vessel, giving images of sufficient quality in a timely fashion, safely and reliably. This proved not to be. A combination of 4G cellular, Wi-Fi and satellite technologies exceeded expectations and allowed the team to improve on their original specification, delivering higher resolution images.

The project has faced a “unique set of security challenges,” said Robert Oates the Rolls-Royce Cyber Security lead. Significant analysis of potential risks was undertaken to ensure end-to-end security. This analysis looked not just at the obvious technology related risks but also at the risks posed by people and the way they work. To minimise these risks, clear security protocols were established, documented and rigorously enforced. Hardware networks were physically separated from each other and firewalled from the outside world.

State-of-the-art encryption was used to secure communications to a US Federal Standard with a key length which will tolerate emerging quantum computing technology. Rolls-Royce development tools were also employed to provide a context aware intrusion detection system, monitoring the networks for “strange” traffic and alerting the
captain to any threat. The legal basis for constructing and operating a remote-controlled vessel is still developing. However, the Danish Maritime Authority was prepared to sanction this closely-supervised test. Class Society Lloyd’s Register provided guidance on the safety implications. Their Marine & Offshore Director, Nick Brown, comments: “Working on this project with Rolls-Royce and Svitzer and supporting them on the safe demonstration of the Svitzer Hermod is truly a landmark moment for Lloyd’s Register and the industry.

“With autonomous ships likely to enter service soon, we have already set out the ‘how’ of marine autonomous operations in our ShipRight procedure guidance as it is vital these technologies are implemented in a safe way and there is a route for compliance. “Lack of prescriptive rules was no barrier for ‘de-risking’ the project and we provided assurance against our Cyber-Enabled Ships ShipRight Procedure, while considering the safety implications associated with the first closed demonstration.”
“A successful first test is only the beginning,” adds Tenovuo. “We intend to continue developing and testing the ROC whilst continuing our drive for more autonomy in ships. We expect to demonstrate a fully autonomous vessel very soon.”

400+
Individual validations met
42
Individual safety requirements met
61
Mandatory cyber security tests passed

Pioneering technology

The Svitzer Hermod, a Robert Allan ship design, was built in Turkey at the Sanmar yard in 2016. It is equipped with a Rolls-Royce Dynamic Positioning System, which is the key link to the remote controlled system.

The vessel is also equipped with a pair of MTU 16V4000 M63 diesel engines from Rolls-Royce, each rated 2000 kW at 1800 rpm.

The vessel also features a range of sensors which combine different data inputs using advanced software to give the captain an enhanced understanding of the vessel and its surroundings. The data is transmitted reliably and securely to a Remote Operating Centre (ROC) from where the Captain controls the vessel.

The Remote Operating Centre was designed to redefine the way in which vessels are controlled. Instead of copying existing wheelhouse design the ROC used input from experienced captains to place the different system components in the optimum place to give the master confidence and control. The aim is to create a future proof standard for the control of vessels remotely.

Svitzer Hermod 

"With its direct impact on our customer performance, operational cost and environmental footprint vessel efficiency remains a main driver now and going forward. We are proud to be partnering with Rolls-Royce in this high-level research and development of systems for remote operation.”

Kristian Brauner
Chief Technology Officer, Svitzer

Best in class

Lloyd’s Register’s Marine & Offshore Director, Nick Brown, commented: “Working on this project with Rolls-Royce and Svitzer and supporting them on the safe demonstration of the Svitzer Hermod is truly a landmark moment for LR and the industry. With autonomous ships likely to enter service soon, we have already set out the ‘how’ of marine autonomous operations in our ShipRight procedure guidance as it is vital these technologies are implemented in a safe way and there is a route for compliance.

Lack of prescriptive Rules was no barrier for “de-risking” the project and we provided assurance against LR’s Cyber-Enabled Ships ShipRight Procedure, whilst considering the safety implications associated with the first closed demonstration. We are honoured to be working as partners on this ground-breaking project in the industry’s journey to autonomous vessels.”

Throughout the demonstration the vessel had a fully qualified captain and crew on board to ensure safe operation in the event of a system failure.

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