An autonomous ship carrying a single, white cargo container. The ship is in the water with mountains and other ships in the background

China’s first autonomous cargo ship completes trial voyage

PortandTerminal.com, December 16, 2019

China’s homemade autonomous cargo ship “Jindouyun 0 hao” witnessed its maiden voyage Sunday near Dong’ao Island of Zhuhai, south China’s Guangdong Province

ZHUHAI, CHINA – China’s autonomous ship development has reached a major milestone with the country’s first autonomous cargo ship, Jin Dou Yun 0 Hao, completing its first trial voyage in Zhuhai yesterday.

According to reports, the autonomous cargo ship will reduce 20% construction cost, 20% operation cost and 15% fuel consumption.

Yunzhou Tech, a Zhuhai-based technology company, started the development of the ship in 2017 in collaboration with Wuhan University of Technology and China Classification Society.

Chinese autonomous ship in the water tied to the dock where crowds of people stand looking at it. Large concrete institutional buildings in the background up on a hill.

According to Zhang Yunfei, president of Yunzhou Tech, the company will further test the ship and actively explore the commercial use of the ship.

Zhuhai is now developing a test ground for autonomous ships as part of its plan to develop an industrial platform in the new sector. The Wanshan Marine Test Field, which will cover a total area of 771.6 sq km, will become the largest autonomous ship test ground in the world. It will allow the testing of technologies such as autonomous steering and obstacle avoidance.