BOATS & GEAR Unmanned Technology
Safe Drivers Autonomous self-piloting system’s goal is to provide safe and reliable navigation. By Michael Crowley, Correspondent
teamed up with First Harvest Navigation, Norwalk, Conn., for the first U.S. autonomous hybrid cargo vessel. The Captain Ben Moore is a 63'×21.3' aluminum catamaran designed by Australia-based Incat Crowther and built by Derecktor Shipyards, Mamaroneck, N.Y. The hybrid vessel (a WorkBoat magazine 2019 Significant Boat winner) was delivered to First Harvest in June 2019, with two Cummins QSB6.7 diesels and lithium batteries connected to a pair of BAE Systems HybriDrive electric motors. In early 2021 First Harvest “reached out to Sea Machines for autonomous operations,” said Vanya Banjac, marketing director for Sea Machines Robotics. That was after Sea Machines had invited Bob Kunkel, First Harvest Navigation’s president, to Boston Harbor to ride on a couple of boats outfitted with Sea Machines autonomous systems. “I was thoroughly impressed,” said Kunkel.
First Harvest Navigation
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dvocates for new unmanned autonomous commercial boats haven’t had too much to be excited about recently. “There was a whole bunch of interest and then it backed off,” said Bob Clark MetalCraft Marine’s contract manager in Watertown, N.Y. Whereas the tempo is more intense for autonomous Navy vessels. The most noteworthy example is the Navy’s $122 million contract awarded to Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La. The contract is to initially build three to six mine countermeasures unmanned surface vehicles with options for another 24. It won’t be an entirely new venture for the Navy, which started using unmanned vehicles at the end of World War II. One exception to the relative inactivity in the commercial workboat market is Sea Machines Robotics, Boston. It has
The autonomous, hybrid-powered 63' Captain Ben Moore transports refrigerated fresh produce and meat products across Long Island Sound.
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www.workboat.com • NOVEMBER 2022 • WorkBoat
