For the first time in Russia, a fully autonomous sea delivery to a remote island has been carried out. Sitronics and SDEK conducted a successful experiment to deliver cargo to Moneron using an unmanned boat called the Wanderer. The flight was the result of cooperation with the government of the Sakhalin Region and is an important step towards the development of new logistics models in remote regions of the country.
The vessel took off from the port of Nevelsk, having traveled almost 140 kilometers along the Tatar Strait in both directions. The ship was equipped with an autonomous navigation system capable of taking into account external factors and adjusting the route without operator involvement. The full route was set in advance, and human intervention was not required even with a temporary loss of communication.
One of the tasks of the experiment was to check the operability of navigation algorithms, the ability of the boat to safely avoid obstacles and independently dock to an unequipped shore. According to Evgeny Shishenin, CEO of Sitronics KT, the drone confidently passed all the tests, maintaining the set course and confirming the high reliability of the systems.
Essential goods were on board: medicines, communications equipment and popular consumer goods, including orders from marketplaces. All this was successfully unloaded onto the shore, where previously it was possible to deliver parcels only with great difficulty. Now, delivery is fast, reliable, and fully autonomous.
"We see how unmanned technologies can radically change logistics. Today, they provide a solution to two problems at once — the shortage of personnel and the high cost of transportation," said Anna Panarina, Director of Strategic Projects at SDEK.
The pilot project has already received support from the region and may become the basis for scaling the technology to other hard-to-reach territories of the Far East. Unmanned logistics demonstrates not only efficiency, but also the ability to reduce costs: the crew is one of the most expensive parts of maritime transportation, and in remote areas there are practically no alternatives.
Thus, shipping to Moneron is becoming a symbol of a new approach in the industry. This is no longer a futuristic idea, but a real tool that works and benefits.
