AEGIS, AUTOSHIP and MOSES joint final event at Europort Exhibition in Rotterdam Ahoy

23. November 2023

On November 7th, 2023, the AEGISAUTOSHIP, and MOSES projects joined forces in Rotterdam for the ‘Navigating the Future of European Waters with Autonomous Innovation,’ event at the Europort conference.

The event included sessions on market, technology, and policy developments that are enabling autonomy to have a significant impact on the waterborne sector in the EU, fostering the needed modal shift toward more efficient and greener waterborne transport, and brought together the leading experts in the field to discuss the latest developments.

The day started with the keynote speakers, Susanne Lanzerstorfer (CINEA) and Alexander Hoffmann (DG MOVE), offering a comprehensive overview of CINEA – European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency. Their insightful presentation covered the agency’s projects in waterborne automation, along with a detailed discussion on the priorities outlined by the European Commission.

Session 1 – How does autonomy enable new business models?

Moderated by Ørnulf Jan Rødseth from Norwegian Forum for Autonomous Ships, the session explored business cases, low-hanging fruits, and the unfulfilled potential.

The hub-and-spoke redesign proposal with small, autonomous feeder shuttles.

Kenneth Johanson, North Sea Container Line

Zero-emission logistics with uncrewed inland waterway barges and short sea vessels.

Antoon Van Coillie, Zulu Associates

Autonomous ecosystems: A paradigm shift for maritime business models.

Kristoffer Kloch, DFDS

New opportunities for ports with automated terminals and ships – Transferability cases.

Nacho Benítez Sánches, Port of Valencia

Panel discussion with all speakers.

Moderated by Marco Molica Colella, Ciaotech PNO

  

Session 2 – Tech talks – where are we on autonomy?

Our panelists from session 2 – moderated by Ørnulf Jan Rødseth from the Norwegian Forum for Autonomous Ships – discussed the current state of autonomy.

Situation awareness – Object detection and classification.
Knut Eilif Husa, Kongsberg Maritime

Autonomous navigation on inland waterways and open seas.

Knut Eilif Husa, Kongsberg Maritime

Autonomous container handling with ship cranes.

Janne Suominen, Macgregor

Remote support of robotic container handling systems.

Mirjam Huis in ‘t Veld, TNO

Navigating the future with automated terminal operations.

Christopher Saavedra, Kalmar

Panel discussion with all speakers.

Moderated by Ørnulf Jan Rødseth, Norwegian Forum for Autonomous Ships

  

Session 3 – Supporting sustainable development of waterborne transport

The third panel session was moderated by Nikolaos P. Ventikos from National Technical University of Athens and explored sustainable ways forward for the waterborne sector.

Is automation win-win-win? A perspective on sustainable developments goals and societal benefits.
Harilaos Psaraftis, Technical University of Denmark

Why is the modal shift important? Zero-emission impact on external transport costs.

Håvard Nordahl, SINTEF Ocean

Underlying assumptions affecting design in automatization and technology development.

Nanna Thit Hemmingsen, DFDS

New skills and new training – Where will our employees end up?

Gerasimos Theotokatos, University of Strathclyde

How safe do we need to be?

Konstantinos Louzis, National Technological University of Athens

Successful governance of technical innovations in waterborne transport systems.

Nelson F. Coelho, Aalborg University

Panel discussion with all speakers.

Moderated by Nikolaos Ventikos, National Technological University of Athens

  

Last but not least, the event was concluded by the project coordinators Marco Molica Colella, Odd Erik Mørkrid, and Nikolaos P. Ventikos, who shared their views on the future outlook for autonomous waterborne transport, introducing also other European funded initiatives active in the same field, such as ReNew and SEAMLESS.