In 2020, MMA’s Corning School of Ocean Studies launched its new Coastal and Marine Environmental Science (CMES) program, geared at training the next generation of coastal resource managers and scientists. Learn more about our CMES program at https://mainemaritime.edu/ocean-studies/coastal-marine-environmental-science/.

The MTI project “Shore Control Center and Training Services” has been completed. The project consisted of three primary goals: development of a Shore Control Center (SCC), instrument and test MMA vessels with the SCC, and utilize the SCC for training programs. Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) worked closely with industrial partner SailPlan, Inc. on the project. The SCC was built at MMA’s Center for Professional Maritime Development (CPMD) in Bucksport, ME. Two MMA vessels, the R/V Quickwater and the R/V Addy Rae, were instrumented with SailPlan remote monitoring systems and integrated into the SCC. In addition, the R/V Quickwater was instrumented with Sea Machine’s autonomous vessel technology as part of a U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) project. Finally, due to changes in SailPlan’s business model, MMA has secured additional funding to develop new training programs at CPMD that will utilize the SCC and MMA vessels.

Specifically for the MARAD Project, we were looking for reductions in fuel consumption and corresponding improvements in CO2 and other emissions with the R/V Quickwater operated in autonomous mode vs manual (manned). The overall result was unfortunately not successful as the automation resulted in slightly higher fuel consumption (and CO2 emissions) in comparison to manned operation using a standardized survey style test. The cause is likely coming from the speed positioner loop which resulted in continuous fine adjustments in throttle to maintain precise speed, which a human operator doesn’t do. It may however, be possible to improve autonomous performance by some additional PID tuning and modifications to the test cycle that would be more difficult for a human operator to match.

Maritime Academies across the country will be receiving new training ships in the coming years, called National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV). Increased fuel efficiency is a key design goal for the new NSMVs. Learn more about the increased efficiency of these new vessels at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNmbreNQlF8.