Japanese shipping major Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and its group companies MTI Co. Ltd., Keihin Dock Co. Ltd., and Japan Marine Science Inc. (JMS) have completed a second test of the remote navigation of a tugboat as part of the Japanese government’s project aimed at enabling autonomous ship operations by 2025.

Within Tokyo Bay, a manned tugboat equipped with a remotely controlled system was operated remotely from the operation center in the city of Nishinomiya in Hyogo prefecture approximately 400 kilometers away.