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Wärtsilä Advanced Assistance Systems

    Autonomy Solutions

    Wärtsilä Advanced Assistance Systems

    Have full situational awareness and make complicated moves with confidence using advanced sensors and automated decision support technology.

    Overview

    Our advance assistance systems comprise a whole spectrum of autonomy solutions, offering smart sensors, ship command systems and decision support tools at one end to fully crewless autonomous ships at the other, along with various degrees of automation in between.

    We enable autonomous actions using vessel control systems, where algorithms take care of functions accurately and safely, reducing the chances of human error. These smart marine systems already create benefits for the shipping industry today and can be gradually scaled to achieve higher degrees of autonomy in the future.

    Key benefits

    • Increased safety through improved situational awareness and better control, for example, obstacle detection and avoidance.
    • Reduced OpEx and CO2 emissions through fuel savings by enabling Just-in-Time arrivals, optimum speed profiles and reduced need for onboard energy consumption.
    • Resilient and predictable operation.
    • More efficient asset use, less downtime, and reduced human-caused disturbances.
    • More efficient use of human capabilities.

    Key features

    • Situational awareness solutions combine data from different sensors and systems to provide all-around for all vessel sizes and kinds. Sensors include radar, laser, cameras, and environmental sensors (GNSS, wind sensors, MRUs, Echosounder etc.), which combine data from navigation systems like AIS and chart data for advanced awareness. The technology, specifically designed for challenging marine environments, provides an accurate picture of the surroundings and detect hazards in every situation — from harshest weather, busiest ports to wide oceans and narrowest waterways.
    • Action and control solutions are all about how a vessel executes decisions determined by algorithms and then follows up with action. Smart vessel control and drive systems are needed to travel from port to port safely and handle such tasks as docking, harbour entry and remote pilotage. The ability to repeatedly and consistently deliver the same course of action increases efficiency and operational safety dramatically and also helps reduce crew fatigue.
    All products
    Advanced Assistance Systems

    Wärtsilä SmartMove

    Wärtsilä SmartMove Suite brings together tools using automated capabilities to assist the crew with challenging manoeuvres such as harbour entering, docking, or quay-to-quay transit. Advanced motion prediction provides the operator with a complete overview and total control over each vessel’s movement enhancing situational awareness and improving the safety of operations.  

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    Advanced Assistance Systems

    Wärtsilä Smart Sensors

    When precise manoeuvres are required in a marine environment, it is not enough to rely on GNSS alone. Alternative, ultra-reliable positioning technologies are available. Wärtsilä Smart Sensor portfolio brings together technologies that assist the crew with the full situational awareness needed for all navigational situations. Based on laser, radar and camera technology can provide both local position information (where the vessel is relative to its surroundings) and situational awareness (what is around the close vicinity of the vessel).  

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    Advanced Assistance Systems

    Wärtsilä SPECS

    SPECS for short, Wärtsilä Smart Panoramic Edge Camera System provides a 360° vessel view, from edge of the hull to the horizon, streamed directly to the bridge in real-time.

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    Service & maintenance

    Always with you.

    We provide 24/7 and lifecycle-long support. Whether your assets need servicing, spare parts, you have questions about collaborations or want solution quotes — our Support and Maintenance Teams are here for you.

    Stories
    Case study

    Autonomous, zero-emission barge

    MAGPIE aims to make transport within, to and from ports carbon-free by 2050. Wärtsilä Voyage is part of an international alliance — MAGPIE (sMArt Green Ports as Integrated Efficient multimodal hubs) — headed by the Port of Rotterdam Authority. For this, we are building a commercially viable autonomous intra-port inter-terminal container shuttle to address an emerging capacity bottleneck in internal container transportation. The installation will include several of our latest solutions, including  SmartMove.

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    Extend your senses with advanced situational awareness to always stay alert and aware

    A digital lookout

    Our situational awareness solutions are designed to minimise the human element of maritime risk. The smart sensor cameras and radars have long provided critical support and information to the bridge crew. Enhanced with cutting-edge technologies, these established systems are becoming smarter and opening the path to even wider application.

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    Article

    Autonomous navigation on Crooked River

    American Courage is the biggest vessel to perform automated dock-to-dock operations. A waterway named ‘Crooked River’ by Native Americans may not seem like the natural place to test navigational technology. But while other vessel autonomy trials seek out calm and quiet stretches of open water, Great Lakes shipowner American Steamship Company (ASC) had a different idea. The result was a challenging testbed for Wärtsilä Voyage’s SmartMove and a pioneering deployment of intelligent navigation systems.

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    A stepwise approach to autonomous shipping is the wiser way forward

    Discover Smart Autonomy

    Smarter systems today are already enhancing the safety, cost-efficiency, and environmental performance of today’s vessels. In practice, this means reducing collisions or incidents, assisted docking, saving fuel through optimised speed profiles, and reducing associated emissions. At Wärtsilä Voyage, we call this ‘Smart Autonomy’ – a stepwise and commercially viable approach towards an autonomous shipping future.

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