Kotug & the Remote Controlled Tugboat
Kotug demonstrated the sailing of the first remote controlled tugboat over a long distance today.
The RT Borkum was controlled from the International Tug, Salvage & OSV Convention and Exhibition (ITS) ITS in Marseille, while the RT Borkum was sailing in Rotterdam. A captain of Kotug took over the control of the tug via a remote secured internet line and camera images. These cameras and controls of the tugboat were used on the demo consoles in Marseille.
Kotug believes that unmanned remote controlled ships will be the first step to ultimately unmanned autonomous shipping. Various simple operations in remote locations can already be done from remote controlled stations. Kotug uses its Rotterdam simulator for further testing of unmanned operation tasks.