Between 19 and 20 March, experiments will be carried out on the North Sea with an autonomous sailing vessel. The aim of these tests is to gain insight into the possibilities of autonomous shipping, in which ships sail safely between other vessels without intervention by crew.

The tests are carried out with the SeaZip 3, a small seagoing vessel for maintenance of wind parks. The seagoing traffic is simulated by the ‘Octans’, the training vessel of Maritime Institute Willem Barentsz and by the ‘Guardian’; a salvage vessel of The Netherlands Coastguard.