Seafar starts up Germany’s first remote-controlled inland waterway shipping centre
Belgian specialist in remote-controlled shipping Seafar, with its project partners HGK Shipping and Reederei Deymann, has set up the first remote operations centre in Germany.
The centre enables captains to navigate vessels on inland waterways from dry land. This technology, according to Seafar, is one way of countering the shortage of specialist workers. Five vessels have been equipped for the test phase of the project.
The partners are working with the public authorities to use the permits for the test operations already underway in the lower Rhine area and earmark other navigation areas for this approach. They are currently involved in the application phase for route sections on the northwest German canal network, the Mittelland Canal, and other sections of the Rhine.
These concepts, which involve fewer crew members, are already being successfully used for different types of inland waterway vessels in Belgium and the Netherlands and some of them will be controlled from the new Seafar centre in Duisburg-Ruhrort.
The remote operations centre in Duisburg currently offers three workplaces for skippers to remotely control vessels and one workplace for the traffic controller, who also monitors the vessels’ movements and is the senior contact person.
The skippers can remotely navigate the inland waterway vessels via a system resembling a wheelhouse with the help of a camera system as if they were operating on the water.
“Remote-controlled operations from dry land can make this profession much more attractive. Being able to combine job and family through a job that’s close to your place of residence provides valuable incentives for staying in inland waterway shipping or launching a career in this business,” said Martin Deymann, the managing director of Reederei Deymann.
