Sustainable Short Sea Shipping: Automated ships and supply chain optimization for sustainable short sea shipping

Sustainable Short Sea Shipping / The Port of Mykonos received special mentions from the project presenters as the destination port of the autonomous cargo ship.

MOSES: AutoMated Vessels and Supply Chain Optimization for Sustainable Short Sea Shipping – Automated vessels and supply chain optimization for sustainable short sea shipping

The future of shipping was presented, on November 7, 2023, at the joint final event, “Navigating the future of European waters with autonomy innovations”, of the MOSES, AEGIS & Autoship projects, as part of Europort, the international maritime exhibition and meeting point for innovative technology and complex shipbuilding, organized in the world port of Rotterdam.

The event delved into discussions on how market, technology and policy developments are enabling autonomy to have a significant impact on water transport in the EU, fostering the much-needed shift towards more efficient and greener water transport, bringing together leading experts in sector to discuss the latest developments.

The day started with the keynote speakers, Susanne Lanzersforfer (CINEA) and Alexander Hoffmann (DG MOVE), presenting a comprehensive overview of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Their thorough presentation covered the organization’s projects in the field of automation in water transport, followed by a detailed discussion on the priorities set by the European Commission.

The event was divided into three sections with the following topics:

Section 1 – How does autonomy lead to new business models?
Section 2 – Technology discussions – where are we in terms of autonomy?
Section 3 – Supporting the sustainable development of water transport

During the event, the results of the three projects were presented, followed by interesting positions on the future of transport, the use of technology and robotic systems, while ethical and social-humanitarian issues were also exposed. The Port of Mykonos received special mentions from the project presenters as the destination port of the autonomous cargo ship.

Closing the curtain on the event, project coordinators Marco Molica Colella, Odd Erik Mørkrid and Nikolaos Ventikos delved, with great enthusiasm, into the future prospects of autonomous systems in water transport, making reference to other funded European initiatives active in the same field, such as ReNew and SEAMLESS.

On behalf of the Municipal Port Fund of Mykonos, the members of the project team participated, Nikolaos Chr. Vardalachos, Maria Kotoula, Efstratios Herras.

Also, the Municipal Port Fund of Mykonos participated in the pilot presentation of the autonomous ship, scale 1:17, designed by MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) for the MOSES project and took place in the company’s navigation and maneuvering tank in Wageningen, the Netherlands on Thursday, September 14, 2023.

The port of Mykonos as the destination port of the autonomous ship had a dominant position in the presentation of the pilot program.

The test of the scaled ship was successful and was attended by representatives of the MOSES project participants.

Nikolaos Chr. participated on behalf of the Municipal Port Fund of Mykonos. Vardalachos from the project team.