Norway’s Maritime Robotics, a company with innovative uncrewed solutions, has received the green light to establish the world’s first freight route for uncrewed cargo boats.
The company will operate uncrewed surface vehicles on the route between Trondheim and Vanvikan, with the blessings of the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate who have given the permission.
The Maritime Robotics’ uncrewed surface vehicle, the Mariner, has already been used to utilize the newly approved freight route.
The company has its headquarters in Trondheim and production premises in Vanvikan, located on the Fosenhalvøya, and the uncrewed voyages will transport goods and equipment between the two locations.
The freight route for uncrewed cargo boats is considered a crucial step in the development of more sustainable transport solutions, and Norway as a pioneering country in the development of autonomous vessels and laws and regulations, must be updated to make use of the new opportunities this development offers, as Maritime Robotics´s COO, Eirik Hovstein explains.
Mr. Eirik Hovstein expressed the opinion that this is a significant milestone for the establishment of laws and regulations, that enable launched drones to participate in ordinary traffic at sea.
The project has received support from Zawas, an innovation cluster, in collaboration with Innovation Norway and Norwegian industry.
