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First autonomous crossing of the North Sea

May 23, 2019

With a symbolic load – oysters towards the continent and beer as a return – the 12-meter sea kit prototype “Maxlimer” completed the first North Sea crossing by an autonomous sea vehicle.

The 5kg shellfish shipment was of course well below the USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) maximum payload of 2.5 tonnes. The purpose of the demonstration was to demonstrate the ability to carry out such a transit. The time required of 22 or 18 hours for the route from West Mersey (Essex, England) to Ostend (Belgium) and back is also of little importance (the speed of advance was approx. 4 knots - 7 km/h). The experiment took place on May 7th and 9th and was supported by the institutions involved in maritime safety on both sides of the North Sea - including the ESA (European Space Agency).

Based on the Hugin platform from the Norwegian company Kongsberg, Sea-Kit “Maxlimer” was built by Hushcraft Ltd, Tollesbury, Essex (UK) primarily for surveying operations. The prototype was able to compete in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPrize, an oceanographic competition in which an area of 250 to 500 km² with depths of 2,000 to 4,000 meters had to be mapped in 35 hours. Its control system is based on GPS, satellite communications, CCTV, radar and a thermal imaging camera. The real-time transmission of the data collected by the vehicle makes it possible to control it from a land station (in the present experiment from England). With its diesel-electric drive, the USV has a range of more than 20,000 kilometers (12,000 nm). This is an enormous economic and ecological factor, especially when mapping large sea areas, as consumption is around 2 tons of diesel - compared to the around 300 tons for a ship. In addition, there are lower manufacturing costs and lower personnel costs.

“Maxlimer” is an example of where autonomous driving can lead and what possible applications it opens up.

Hans-Uwe Mergener

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