And faster than we could have imagined just a few years ago. In Belgium, the first remote-controlled freighters are already sailing along rivers and canals. Controlled from land – via screen and joystick.
This has definite advantages. On the one hand, the inland waterway transport profession has been suffering from a shortage of young recruits for years. For many, spending several weeks on board without seeing family and friends is no longer desirable. On the other hand, an „operator“ can control two or three ships at the same time from land, which significantly reduces personnel costs. Around 8,000 inland waterway vessels currently transport goods along Europe's waterways, but they usually spend more than half their time anchored in port. During these loading times, the captains, of whom there are usually two on board due to shift work, are normally paid. Remote-controlled skippers are not.
A pilot project is now set to launch on the Rhine at the end of February. Inland waterway vessels will be remotely controlled from Duisburg. 5G makes it possible. The vision: in just five years, inland waterway transport on German waterways could be completely remote-controlled.
Further sources:
On autonomous driving on land:
https://www.toyota.de/entdecke-toyota/ratgeber/selbstfahrende-autos
