While Sea Machines plans to put its SM300 autonomy system at the helm of the vessel, the ship will also operate under the authority of commanding officers located in the United States. The remote team will be in charge of monitoring the Nellie Bly from a shoreside station all the way in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the same team involved in the development, testing, and perfecting of the company’s SM300 autonomous marine technology, which increases predictability, safety, efficiency, and also productivity. Two professional mariners and occasional guest passengers will be carried by the Nellie Bly during its demonstrative journey.
Based in Boston, Sea Machines builds autonomous command and control technology for marine navigation. Its systems are deployed on vessels all around the world.
Its SM300 system enables waypoint autonomy, remote command, and control from a second location, whether it’s the shore or another vessel. It also features computer vision, obstacle detection, as well as collision avoidance. You can integrate the autonomous system with your ship’s onboard equipment such as GPS, radar, AIS ENC charts, and specialized cameras that can offer full awareness at sea.
The autonomous boat was named so in honor of Nellie Bly, one of the most famous journalists in the United States. In 1889, inspired by Jules Verne’s book "Around the World in 80 Days", she took a 25,000-mile journey around the globe, setting an international record. She completed the expeditious voyage in 72 days.
Sea Machines will stream real-time voyage data throughout the entire journey, on a website dedicated to The Machine Odyssey, so that enthusiasts can have 24/7 access to live updates. More details are to follow.