China constructs Asia's 1st unmanned ship test facility

Construction started on Saturday on a test field for unmanned ships in Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong province, the first testing facility of its kind in Asia, reported dayoo.com.

The small unmanned vessel JinDouYun, which was designed by YUNZHOU-TECH. [Photo/cme.gov.cn]

The Wanshan Marine Test Field will provide a 225 square nautical mile, or 771 square kilometer, zone that will allow for the testing of maritime technology such as autonomous steering and obstacle avoidance.

Infrastructure including communications networks and navigation radar will be built on nearby islands to provide a comprehensive and realistic test environment to meet the demands that come with testing different types of ships.

A joint project between Zhuhai municipal government, China Classification Society (CCS), Wuhan University of Technology, and YUNZHOU-TECH, the Wanshan Marine Test Field will be the largest of its kind in world. It is expected to be the main base for research into unmanned ship technology in China over the next three to five years.