Kongsberg Maritime and Massterly (a Kongsberg Wilhelmsen joint venture) have signed contracts with the Norwegian grocery distributor ASKO to equip two new vessels with autonomous technology, and to manage its operations at sea.

Kongsberg Maritime has announced that the world’s first adaptive ferry transit has been conducted during normal service. This landmark event, which took place last week on a vessel fully loaded with passengers and vehicles and demonstrated fully automatic control from dock to dock, is a key step forward in the integration of autonomous technology into everyday shipping operations.

Wärtsilä reports that it has successfully completed a further round of test procedures of its automated dock-to-dock solution, on the 85m ferry ‘Folgefonn’ owned by Norwegian operator Norled.

Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM) has announced that it has entered into new agreements with DNV GL, the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) and the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) to work on the development of autonomous shipping technologies and new regulatory frameworks.

The IMO has agreed to add the issue of autonomous ships to its discussion agenda, following a proposal from a broad coalition of countries at MSC 98 (the 98th session of the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee) to include debate on the development on unmanned ships as part of the next Committee meeting.

A new website, called Training on Board, has been launched to help ship crews to stay fit.