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Authorities in Denmark have signed off on the world's first test program for "remote pilotage" – a high-tech method of remotely guiding ships without putting a pilot aboard. <\/p>\n
The concept of remote guidance for vessels is not itself new. VTS operators remotely monitor traffic in congested waters and can send navigational safety advice to individual ships. But pilotage has always been an in-person task – until now. <\/p>\n
Working with DanPilot, Danelec has developed a system that takes advanced data from the ship and enables pilots to provide guidance remotely. The advantages include improved pilot safety – no more pilot ladder and pilot launch – and less fuel consumption for ships. According to the partners, the new approach does not compromise on navigational safety when compared to in-person pilotage. <\/p>\n
“Remote pilotage makes our work safer and helps reduce both CO? emissions and operational costs for our customers. We have worked intensively towards this for six years, and now we can finally test it in practice. It has the potential to become a major paradigm shift in how pilotage is carried out,” says Erik Merkes Nielsen, CEO of DanPilot.<\/p>\n
For now, the initiative is a limited test program run with the approval of the Danish Emergency Management Agency, and will be restricted to the Kattegat and the western Baltic – and only on transits that do not require compulsory pilotage. Pilots based at a control center in Randers, Denmark will operate the system for the next 18 months and will make about 50 transits over the period. If it works as designed, it could be rolled out further, within Denmark and abroad.<\/p>\n
"Remote pilotage is not only a technological breakthrough – it is a strategic step towards safer and more sustainable shipping," said Danelec CEO Casper Jensen. "Here, cybersecurity – a cornerstone of our technology – is a prerequisite for implementing the solution safely and at scale in the global maritime sector."<\/p>\n