Autonomous tug completes initial sea trials

The PSA Polaris, a harbour tug owned and operated by PSA Marine, has been retrofitted with a suite of Wärtsilä technology to enable autonomous navigation. Trials commenced in September 2019 in Singapore to verify the IntelliTug’s capability to avoid a variety of obstacles, including virtual and real-life moving vessels.

The IntelliTug trials are part of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) initiative and are the first to use the MPA MASS regulatory sandbox.

“It is critical that we prepare the Port of Singapore for MASS,” said Captain M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive (Operations) of MPA. “With MPA’s MASS regulatory sandbox, I am glad that Singapore can contribute to the sea trials and eventual adoption of MASS,” he added.

The project is a collaboration between Wärtsilä, PSA Marine, Lloyd’s Register, the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore (TCOMS), and co-funded by MPA’s Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund.

The PSA Polaris is a 27m 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 system, to enable autonomous capabilities.

The project has made use of Wärtsilä’s autonomous ship simulator and TCOMS has carried out further validation of the data gathered from the sensor suite, as well as real-world performance of through a digital twin. During the sea trials, a new smart navigation system, developed during the project, was used to select destinations for the hundreds of test cases carried out.