On Thursday, Dutch media reported that a container ship collided with an inland vessel on the river Scheur near Rotterdam, spilling at least four containers into the water. One of the vessels was an autonomous barge, one of the first vessels of its kind in the world - though the barge was under control of a human captain on the bridge at the time of the casualty, according to the operator.
At about 0615 hours Thursday, two vessels collided near Koning Willem-Alexander Boulevard in Maassluis, in the river channel that leads to Rotterdam's inner harbor. Both vessels remained afloat, but multiple shipping containers went over the side. At least four containers - all empties - washed up on the bank of the river on the Maassluis side, according to local outlet Rijnmond. The maintenance and salvage vessel Hebo Cat 7 was dispatched to recover the cranes from the riverbank.
Hoop herrie voor de deur, alles trilde in huis, dacht wat is dat, zie schip heel dicht langs de kant varen. Ben bang te dicht #aanvaring 4 containers langs het Scheur pic.twitter.com/Zc0oozrdm5
— Klaazklikteroplos (@zomer60) December 5, 2024
Het regent zo hard...ik film even vanuit de auto ???? #berging #containers pic.twitter.com/sxmZVgRwU1
— Maikel Coomans (@maikelcoomans85) December 5, 2024
Maritime media outlets have identified one of the vessels as the River Drone 5, one of 10 newly-delivered autonomous dry cargo barges operated by a Dutch firm. AIS data (top) shows that it performed a round turn. The contracted autonomous vessel operator confirms that the barge was in a collision, but says that it was not in autonomous mode.
"The vessel was under the command of a captain onboard, and so cannot be classified as an autonomous vessel during the incident," a spokesman for operator Seafar said in a comment.
The River Drone fleet is one of the largest-scale experiments in commercial remote-controlled operation in Europe. This fleet is designed and equipped for automated, remote-controlled operation using Seafar remote navigation technology. Each vessel is about 100 meters long and has a deadweight capacity of 3,850 tonnes, and the first hull entered into service in January 2023.
The Netherlands recently amended its inland navigation laws to make it easier for tech companies to test out autonomous systems for shipping. Starting January 1, it will be legal to operate commercial vessels on Dutch inland canal systems without any crew on board. Up until that date, all operations - autonomous or not - have a legal manning requirement in all Dutch waters.
