The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping has approved the technical documentation for the project of retrofitting the bilge water removing ship (BWRS) Koporye and the shore-based remote control center for offshore autonomous surface vessels with an autonomous navigation system. Implementation of the project will ensure that the facility can be assigned the SAS-RCC semi-autonomous vessel category.

The development of the project for retrofitting the vessel with an autonomous navigation system was carried out by NPP “Aviatsionnaya i Morskaya Elektronika” JSC. Specialists of the Baltic Branch of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping conducted the review of the technical documentation of the vessel retrofitting project.

Koporye is the lead vessel of the RST38 project series, designed to operate in the seaport of Ust-Luga. Koporie and Koppi, the similar in characteristics vessel, were built at Oka Shipyard JSC in Navashino (Nizhny Novgorod Region) and joined the fleet of FSUE “Rosmorport” in 2024.

The BWRS are designed for collection of oily water from vessels, its settling and separation with subsequent delivery of oily residues ashore to a storage facility, and separated clean water - ashore or, in authorized areas, overboard. In addition, BWRS can be used to collect sewage and garbage from vessels for transportation and delivery to onshore treatment facilities. The ships are equipped with an innovative oil spill search system using additional software.

FSUE “Rosmorport” is working on the implementation of remote navigation systems on marine vessels under the federal project “Autonomous Navigation”. In 2023, the FSUE “Rosmorport” ferries Marshal Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky were the first in Russia to receive certificates of maritime autonomous and remotely operated surface vessels and began operating in the remote control mode using autonomous navigation aids.

This year, the enterprise plans to complete the retrofitting of the BWRS Koporye and installation of the remote control panel, as well as to test the systems for compliance with the requirements of offshore autonomous and remotely operated surface vessels of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.