Singapore unveils innovation lab for self-sailing ships

Singapore

SELF-SAILING ships are set to join drones and self-driving cars in Singapore's future transport landscape.

Five such projects, worth S$7.2 million in all, come under a Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) steering committee launched on Tuesday to oversee "maritime autonomous surface ships".

Such smart ship operations, along with novel port services, are the crux of a maritime digital innovation lab also unveiled on Tuesday - part of the MPA's broader "living lab" initiative.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min said that the MPA's latest lab would support the sea transport industry's transformation map, which he rolled out last year.

It will boost tie-ups between the maritime industry and the research and technology communities, he said, pointing to potential for joint development of new industry concepts.

The lab - launched in tandem with Singapore Maritime Week - is home to a new MPA data sharing platform, which is meant to promote the development and testing of digital applications and services for the industry.

The lab also houses a S$9.9 million project - dubbed the Next Generation Vessel Traffic Management System Lab - that brings the private and public sectors together, to develop vessel traffic management tools that can tackle issues like data exchange between ships and port authorities.

The MPA's new lab takes up 500 square metres in PSA Vista in Pasir Panjang. Innovative maritime solutions can also be tested under field conditions at state-owned port operator PSA's living lab, launched in 2016, and Jurong Port's lab, set up in 2017.

Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of the MPA, said that the three labs will grow the maritime research and innovation ecosystem, and fuel progress in areas such as automation, data analytics and intelligent systems.

Meanwhile, the steering committee - a cross-agency project, though the MPA declined to specify the agencies taking part - was tasked with coming up with a road map for autonomous maritime operations in Singapore waters.

Singapore plans to be "the preferred location for companies to operate their autonomous vessels remotely", the MPA said in a statement.

READ MORE: Positioning Singapore's maritime sector for the future