The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and MTI Co., Ltd. (MTI, an NYK Group company) have recently held a joint workshop to collaborate on port-to-port Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) trials.

The collaboration is among the initiatives from the MPA-NYK Memorandum of Understanding in 2024 to deepen partnership and accelerate maritime decarbonisation, digitalisation, and manpower development efforts.

Held in Singapore, the workshop brought together over 60 participants from MPA, NYK, MTI, Singapore Maritime Institute, industry partners including ClassNK, Japan Radio Co., as well as research institutes from the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore Polytechnic (SP), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

MPA said the MASS trials will test the interoperability of autonomous vessels with port-based systems, including MPA's Vessel Traffic Information System, and enable the development of best practices and standards for navigation safety, route planning, fuel consumption, AI-based decision-making, communications, and cybersecurity in the port of Singapore.

"This collaboration provides an important platform for us to test and validate new concepts of operations in Singapore's port waters," said M. Segar, MPA chief marine officer. "We look forward to partnering with NYK and MTI in these trials to advance smart, safe, and sustainable autonomous shipping."

Hideki Suzuki, president of MTI, said the joint workshop marks an important step forward in the development of autonomous navigation systems.

"MTI is proud to contribute to testing aimed at achieving safe and efficient autonomous navigation in Singapore's port waters," he added.