Trans-Atlantic Voyage Recreated with Modern Twist: AI, Solar Tech

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), a solar-powered marine research vessel driven by artificial intelligence (AI), has completed its journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Autonomous navigation systems are becoming more popular, with both startups and large corporations investing time and money to make them a reality.

Automation can help the maritime industry address workforce shortages while also improving onboard safety compliance.

During voyages, automated systems can also aim to improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollution.

By 2028, the autonomous navigation and associated systems market is projected to be valued at $235 billion.

Mayflower's Mission

The Mayflower, a sailing ship, set sail from Plymouth, U.K. in 1620.

After enduring a rough sea that threatened to sink the ship, the passengers finally completed their trans-Atlantic journey when they arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, instead of Virginia, as planned.

The original Mayflower, a 30-meter triple-masted wooden vessel with canvas sails and a top speed of three knots or 6km/h, sailed from Plymouth to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, carrying 102 passengers and a crew of about 30.

When a group of people got together to plan a 400th-anniversary commemoration of the voyage, they embarked on a journey to build a Mayflower for the 21st century; a ship that did not require human intervention or fossil fuels.

People from ten countries and three continents were part of the think-and-do team.

The team could reconsider the ship's design as it didn't require human eating and sleeping areas.

Instead, they have a futuristic-looking, lightweight trimaran with a cargo bay and an edge computing system that would allow the artificial intelligence (A.I.) pilot to make local decisions.

The team also outfitted the solar ship with specialized equipment that could gather data to determine the health of the ocean, study the tides and waves, and keep an eye out for marine mammals in the ocean's depths, Interesting Engineering reported.

A.I.-Driven Voyage

On April 29, the new generation Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England.

The ship's local computer, supplied by IBM, churned through all the input data to make decisions on how to reach Plymouth in the United States.

The ship was expected to finish its voyage in three weeks, traveling at a slow speed of up to 10 knots (20 kph).

The ship, however, had to be rerouted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, due to technical difficulties.

The ship had completed a trans-Atlantic voyage of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) in 40 days when it arrived in Halifax on June 5th, according to the project team's post on LinkedIn.

Their post included a photo of the boat's bow and a map of its voyage.

Brett Phaneuf, Project director for the Mayflower autonomous ship, said that the journey the automated boat made across the Atlantic was arduous and has revealed a great deal about designing, building, and operating a ship of the same nature, as well as the future of the maritime enterprise.

According to the BBC, the trimaran was diverted to Halifax to study the issues it encountered at sea and will stay there for a week or two before proceeding on to travel to Plymouth, and then Washington DC.