Sea Machines completes first 1000 Nautical Mile of autonomous tug Nellie Bly.

According to a press release published by Sea Machines Robotics on October 21, 2021, the leading developer of autonomous command and control systems for the maritime industry, announced that it has completed the world’s first 1,000+ nautical miles autonomous and remotely commanded journey of a commercial vessel at sea.
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Autonomous tug Nellie Bly (Picture source: Sea Machine Robotics)

The Nellie Bly employed first-of-it’s-kind AI-enabled, long-range computer vision and a sensor-to-propeller autonomy system, the Sea Machines SM300. Its technical features allowed for path-planning, active domain perception, dynamic obstacle, and traffic avoidance and replanning, depth sensing, and fusion of vectored nautical chart data. 96.9% of the 1,027-mile journey was accomplished under fully autonomous control and the SM300 successfully executed 31 collision-avoidance and traffic separation maneuvers.

Using multi-sensor fusion, the system digitally perceived over 12,000 square miles of ocean space more accurately and comprehensively than comparable human operators.

This successful autonomous operation demonstrates that with this technology the world’s fleets can ply the oceans in a more predictable and safer manner, while optimizing the global supply chain by delivering a greatly more efficient and productive means of transportation than what exists today.

Throughout the voyage, the tug averaged a speed of 7.9 knots. Sea Machines garnered 3.8TB of essential operational data showcasing how the ships can readily connect as IOT systems into the cloud economy.

The SM300 also provided the remote commanders in Boston with an active chart of the environment and live augmented overlays showing the progress of the mission, state of the vessel, situational awareness of the domain, real-time vessel-borne audio, and video from many streaming cameras.

The Nellie Bly has excellent seakeeping behavior, superb maneuverability, and outstanding towing characteristics. The state-of-the-art design incorporates the latest hull and skeg designs and the most recent developments in the fender, fairlead, and winch design.

She is a heavily built vessel with rigid foundations, extra plate thickness, extra brackets, and extra fendering.