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Wärtsilä unveils floating R&D testbed vessel
Wärtsilä Voyage unveiled Ahti, a new demonstrator and innovation vessel at SMM 2022
Ahti will serve as a platform to test Wärtsilä Voyage’s own technologies and those belonging to the company’s technology partners. These trials will be conducted in changeable real-life sea conditions which can be difficult and costly to recreate in a laboratory environment.
Wärtsilä Voyage said creating a floating R&D facility helps cut down the cost and time barriers associated with real-life tests, returning meaningful results on a much lower risk and cost base than going into full-scale testing directly. The ship also creates a first-party resource where customers and technology partners can collaborate.
Unveiling Ahti, Wärtsilä Voyage head of product autonomous systems, Hendrik Bußhoff stressed the need to test technology in scenarios that come close to real-life situations.
“We understand that real-world testing is costly and time consuming. Trialling new equipment almost always means testing it on a customer’s ship which can often bring with it a lot of obligations and questions about documentation, schedules, data ownership and compliance.
“This is why we invested in Ahti. We now have a resource that will shorten time-to-market, enable us to fail fast and innovate quicker, and compare and understand different technologies outside of controlled environments.”
In the first half of 2022, the vessel’s bridge was upgraded with products from Wärtsilä Voyage’s portfolio including the NACOS Platinum navigation control system, smart panoramic marine camera system and RS24 sensors.
Ahti also features partner technologies from OSCAR and Drynet. Wärtsilä said it will soon install its own SceneScan, SmartMove, remote control and satellite connectivity offerings aboard.
The ship previously served as a German Government fishery patrol vessel and was chosen as a target for retrofit technology installations to prove what is already technologically possible for the current fleet, and to create a platform for further innovation and development.
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