AsiaTech

NYK unveils scraping robot

The Japanese are leading the charge to get robots working on ships at sea.

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) with a number of other local companies has just conducted a trial of a remote-controlled robot that scrapes wood chips in the hold of a wood-chip carrier. NYK said in a release the new scraping robot aims to address safety and the workforce shortage in wood-chip scraping operations.

The companies operated the robot remotely in the ship’s hold for about two hours during cargo unloading.

Splash reported earlier this month on another Japanese shipowner, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), unveiling a maintenance robot.  The wall climbing robot can help with ship inspections and maintenance work.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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