The Olympia Dream Seto is the world’s first passenger ship that sails with an automatic navigation system (MASS) on a long-distance route in the busy Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Image Credits: The Nippon Foundation The autonomous commercial ferry is 65.56 m long, with a gross tonnage of 942 tonnes and can accommodate 500 passengers. It was developed by the Nippon Foundation under its MEGURI 2040 Project and is operated by the Ryobi Group between Shin-Okayama and Tonosho Port (Shodoshima). Olympia Dream Seto is not a water taxi, plying in safe waters, but sailing in one of the most congested maritime corridors filled with fishing vessels, cargo ships and debris, which adds to its credibility that if an AI vessel can operate here, it can do so anywhere in the world. Many of its trials were supervised or remotely controlled; however, it was designed to operate at Level 4 Autonomy. This means the ship can navigate and avoid both moving and stationary objects without a human operator on board. However, for the comfort of the passengers, a crew is placed on board. Features of World’s First Autonomous Passenger Vessel Olympia Dream Seto is not an ordinary autonomous ship; it can be termed a ‘floating supercomputer’, since it depends on a sensor fusion system which can make better decisions than human beings, per the ship’s makers. Image Credits: Marine Insight HD Cameras and Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors The onboard cameras and Lidar sensors can create a panoramic, 3D map of the environment in real time. Lidar is especially useful as it helps differentiate between objects and shadows, glare or even reflections. It utilises laser pulses to measure distance, and can even identify a tiny log or a fishing vessel from miles away. AI Navigation System That Adheres to COLREGs The ship boasts an advanced navigational system which uses predictive modelling. It not only identifies the location of nearby vessels but also predicts where they will be in five, ten or thirty minutes and adjusts its course to maintain a safe passing distance. Cybersecurity The Olympia Dream Seto uses military-grade encryption for its ship-to-shore data link. The navigation computer is physically separated from the passenger Wi-Fi. It is not easy to hack the vessel’s onboard systems for any purpose, per the makers. Remote Operations Centre (ROC) The autonomous passenger ship is always connected to a Remote Operations Centre through satellite and 5G. In the Centre, a human master mariner monitors its functioning. In case the AI systems witness issues that it cannot resolve on its own, which would be a rare case, then the shore-based captain can pilot the vessel with a joystick, all while sitting hundreds of miles away. Why Did Japan Develop a Robot Ship? Like the rest of the world, Japan faces a shortage of seafarers as the current ones are retiring and not many young adults are entering the profession, a phenomenon termed as ‘Silver Tsunami’. Per reports, Japan is estimated to lose 50% of its coastal seafarers in the next 10 years, which is why the country’s maritime sector is focusing on building autonomous vessels. One captain can monitor 5-6 autonomous ships at once, which helps Japan tackle the problem while enabling shipping companies to maintain their schedules, without the need for an onboard captain or even a crew. What do people think? Passengers, for now, find comfort in the presence of the crew members, whose job is practically nothing except evacuating th