F
inns are targeting the development of
the world’s best autonomous shipping
solutions in earnest. Digitalisation plays a
strong role in the development of the com-
petitiveness of the Finnish maritime cluster
and has also secured the necessary political
backing, since Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s
Government sees the autonomous mari-
“
time ecosystem as a key action of Finnish
digitalisation strategy.
The aim of the autonomous initiative
The goal is to provide the world’s first unmanned
is to create system by 2025. The first pilots and appli-
a common roadmap.
maritime products, services and vivid eco-
cations to come rolling down the pipeline
are likely to be autonomous cargo ships
and freight.
As a part of the ecosystem, the
Ministry of Transport and Communica-
tions is committed to facilitating testing
of autonomous vessels in Finland in a flex-
ible manner. As it stands, there are almost
80 companies in the ecosystem, with such
major players as Cargotec, Ericsson, Meyer
Turku, Rolls-Royce, Tieto and Wärtsilä
included in the mix.
COME TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for
Innovation, is lending its support to the
initiative. Program Manager Piia Moilanen
from Tekes says that bringing together
the vibrant ICT start-up scene and strong
maritime players is likely to yield excel-
lent results. New networks will boost the
exchange of ideas and create a pioneer-
ing community for intelligent shipping, she
believes.
“Tekes is committed to financing
autonomous marine ecosystem develop-
ment and boosting new innovations into
markets in the coming years,” she adds.
But what does all this mean in prac-
tice? – The goal is to create a common
roadmap for reaching autonomous marine
operations and to enable effective co-
operation and coordinated development
between industry, research institutes, clas-
sification societies and authorities. The
roadmap creation and implementation
is steered by a group of leading industry
partners.
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