Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has tested an autonomous navigation system on the 11,413 gross-ton large RORO cargo ship HOKUREN MARU No. 2, operated by K-Line on a round-trip route of approximately 1,600 km between Hitachi Port and Kushiro Port.

The system was trialed in three voyages starting on October 1, 2023, as part of the Joint Technological Development Program for the Demonstration test of Fully Autonomous Ships under the MEGURI 2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Project (MEGURI2040) administered by the Nippon Foundation.