The innovative dual-fuel automobile and railway ferry Marshal Rokossovsky has successfully passed the annual inspection of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, confirming the category of semi-autonomous vessel RCmc-MCDs, as well as the validity of the certificate of maritime autonomous and remotely operated surface ship (MASS).

The MASS certificate has also been confirmed for the MASS Remote Control Center (RCC), which is located on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg and is designed to provide vessel control in autonomous mode.

During the inspection of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the declared technical characteristics of autonomous navigation systems were certified and the possibility of controlling the vessel remotely from the RCC was confirmed.

In December 2024, the second ferry of the series, General Chernyakhovsky, successfully passed a similar inspection procedure. Both vessels have been operating on the Seaport of Ust-Luga – Seaport of Kaliningrad ferry line since 2022 in order to ensure stable transport communication between the Kaliningrad Region and the main territory of Russia.

In 2023, after refitting and testing under the federal project “Autonomous Navigation”, the ferries were the first in Russia to receive MASS certificates and began operating in remote control mode using autonomous navigation tools. The vessel is operated by an external captain from the RCC, and there is a crew on board serving as a safeguard in case of emergency.

Currently, since being equipped with autonomous navigation systems, ferries Marshal Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky have transported about 1,800 thousand tons of cargo, over 1,600 passengers and traveled more than 200,000 nautical miles.

FSUE “Rosmorport” continues to work on the implementation of autonomous navigation systems on vessels. This year, the enterprise plans to complete the refitting of the Koporye ecological vessel and the installation of a remote control, as well as to test the systems for compliance with MASS requirements of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.