Foreign ship companies jointly develop battery-powered unmanned guard ships for offshore wind farms

A consortium consisting of C-Job ship design company, LISA, Seazip Offshore Service, Sea Machines, MARIN and eL-Tec Elektrotechnologie has recently launched a concept of Autonomous Guard Vessel (AGV) The design will be used to monitor and guard offshore wind farm infrastructure, covering everything from wind farms to substation platforms and cable lines. The design of the ship was launched on July 7 this year. As the ship does not need to be staffed, it is said to have the advantage of low operating costs. At the same time, due to the integration of environmentally friendly promotion schemes, carbon emissions are also low. According to the consortium, in view of the cancellation of accommodation facilities, the ship is much smaller in size than the existing security ship, which brings lower propulsion requirements and can be powered by batteries, which together reduce operating costs. . Rolph Hijdra, head of unmanned automatic research at C-Job ship design company, said, “The ship is equipped with solar panels on the top, which can continue to navigate and communicate even when the battery is exhausted. Contrary to the current security ship , This AGV will continue to operate even under harsh ocean conditions, and due to its smaller size, it reduces propulsion requirements, does not require diesel engines, and minimizes underwater noise." It is reported that the ship will charge the battery at a charging station, which can be moored independently or connected to existing equipment on site. Charging can either be connected to a field device via a cable, such as an offshore transformer platform, or it can be locally generated using renewable fuels. To ensure that the structure in question is always guarded, the plan calls for the allocation of multiple AGVs at each location. In this case, even if one ship is parked and needs to be recharged, the other can patrol outside. Harm Mulder, Operations Manager of SeaZip Marine Services, pointed out, "This unmanned automatic security vessel will continuously patrol the offshore wind farm area and take turns charging. If something happens, a fully charged AGV will remain on standby for support operations." This AGV will perform its mission by continuously visually monitoring nearby maritime traffic through radar and an automatic maritime identification system (AIS). For any ship approaching the maritime area protected by the AGV, the ship will take established measures to avoid collision and damage to the maritime infrastructure. The consortium said, “Anyone near the ship can receive communications and will receive information on how to safely navigate the area and be escorted away from the scene by the AGV. In addition, any violations or accidents will be recorded to provide video.” In addition, if necessary, the AGV can also notify the staff of the shore or mother ship command center, and then they can take over and remotely control it in real time.