UK technology firm Compute Maritime has unveiled what it said is the world’s first AI-designed crewboat.
Compute Maritime said that, working with consortium partners Siemens Digital Industries Software, Rapid Fusion, HP, BYD Naval Architects and the University of Southampton, the project has produced a new type of crewboat for the offshore wind sector that, in detailed performance modelling, will save 101,671 litres of fuel and 258.7 tonnes of CO2 per vessel every year compared with a conventional baseline.
The designed vessel, a 32.5-metre twin-hull crewboat designed by BYD Naval Architects and built to carry 24 offshore wind technicians and four crewmembers, was developed using Compute Maritime’s patented AI system to optimise its hull form, then paired with a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system developed with Siemens Energy.
Compute Maritime said the combined result will be an 11.1 per cent reduction in annual fuel consumption and an 8.9 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions against a like-for-like conventional diesel vessel operating the same offshore wind duty cycle.
The crewboat has been designed as an upgradeable platform. By specifying an offshore fast-charging inlet at the build stage, it will be ready to draw power from the charging infrastructure that wind farm operators are beginning to install at sea. The vessel can then progressively shift from diesel to battery power with no change to its core propulsion system.
The crewboat design project is being undertaken with funding from the UK Government.