Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has completed what it claims is the world's first fully automated voyage involving a ship of more than 200 metres in length on a Japanese coastal route.
The breakthrough voyage involved the high-speed 15,500-gt passenger ship Soleil (built 2021) operated by Shin Nihonkai Ferry.
The fully automated ferry sailed between Shimoji and Kitakyushu City on Japan's Iyonada Sea, a voyage of 240 km that takes seven hours.
