AVATAR - Internal workshop in Ghent

04 November 2022 - Published by Tom Pauwels

POM Oost-Vlaanderen hosted the internal AVATAR Interreg North Sea Region workshop meeting in Ghent on 4 and 5/10/2022.

POM Oost-Vlaanderen hosted the internal AVATAR workshop meeting in Ghent on 4 and 5/10/2022. Project partners shared experiences about the development of highly autonomous sailing and city freight distribution.

On 4/10/2022, project partners reviewed the status of the KUL Maverick 1 ton research vessel, the new AVATAR 25 ton vessel and the TUD research vessels. Upcoming tests and demonstrations were discussed, combining different technologies from different project partners (remote control center, sensor boxes, AIS-equipment,...).

Information was shared between project partners about certification, legislation and safety challenges for the development of highly autonomous vessels.

A status of calculation tools for the economic assessement of the transport and energy use cases was presented.

The pictures below show there was also time to sail through the city center of Ghent with the Green Wave; making it clear again that waterway transport in Ghent is a challenge (e.g. low bridges and small passages).

The Green Wave serves as a test vessel for the development of the highly autonomous AVATAR vessel. On 5/10/2022, some of the project partners visited the new AVATAR vessel in construction at the premises of E. Van Wingen NV.