On December 18, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (the administrative center of Sakhalin, Russia) under the patronage of Governor Valery Limarenko, two leading universities of the Far East in marine technologies – the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime University (ANMSU) and Sakhalin State University – and the shipping company Morspetsservice have signed the agreement on training autonomous navigation (a-Navigation) specialists.

The agreement provides for the development of training programs for a-Navigation, training of specialists, starting from 2021, including practical training on autonomous ships of Morspetsservice. Earlier, Morspetsservice signed an agreement on equipping 10 cargo-passenger ships with autonomous navigation systems in 2021-2025. Operation of these vessels Morspetsservice will be carried out in the Sakhalin region.

“Currently, the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, one of the leading Far East maritime universities, provides scientific research and trains both Russian and foreign personnel for maritime transport, oil and gas companies. Our research and training include technologies of e-Navigation and unmanned vehicles. We develop and use navigation simulators, which allows full planning of the voyage and navigation along the route using all necessary new technologies”, – said Denis Burov, Rector of ANMSU and head of Far East Expert Group of MARINET.

Also, the university is developing intelligent hardware and software platforms for environmental monitoring, ice reconnaissance using small ship-based unmanned aerial vehicles, and for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). The impressive achievements of the University in the maritime robotics are recognized at the national and international levels: its representatives have won dozens of prizes at world, regional and all-Russian competitions in ROV and AUV areas.