From gCaptain:
Marine Autonomy Continues As A Huge Growth Market During COVID-19
While the maritime world struggles with COVID-19, one industry segment continues to grow at a rapid pace: Marine Autonomy.....MORE
With companies like the MIT startup, Blksail completing autonomous trials remotely, autonomous inland shipping companies like ZULU Associates preparing to enter the New York market, and larger scaleups like Sea Machines closing large strategic investment deals, the rapid growth of autonomous solution providers is impressive.
The U.S. Navy and the NOAA has also made rapid progress in vessel autonomy by signing a new agreement to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems in the nation’s coastal and world’s ocean waters.
“With the strengthening of our ongoing partnership with the Navy, NOAA will be better positioned to transition unmanned maritime technologies into operational platforms that will gather critical environmental data that will help grow the American Blue Economy,” said Tim Gallaudet, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator.
NOAA conducts research and gathers data about the global ocean and atmosphere to forecast weather, predict climate, protect the ocean, and sustainably manage marine resources. These missions rely on new technologies such as unmanned systems to improve data gathering.
“This agreement lays the foundation for collaboration, engagement, and coordination between NOAA and the U.S. Navy that our nation has never seen before,” said Rear Adm. John Okon, of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC). The NMOC’s mission is to define the physical environment to deter aggression, maintain freedom of the seas and win wars....
