The „Liberty Ships“ are coming back - this time autonomously

Liberty ships - wasn't there something about convoys in the Second World War? Supplying allied troops in Europe across the Atlantic from the USA. In mid-February, the Boston-based company Blue Water Autonomy presented an autonomous Liberty-class logistics ship developed in cooperation with the Dutch shipbuilding company Damen for precisely such a purpose.

Built from the Stan Patrol hull, the almost 60-metre-long platform should be able to move 150 tonnes of payload autonomously over 10,000 nautical miles. Behind the characteristic axe bow and the hull, which can be produced quickly and at high speeds, is a new interior optimised by Blue Water for autonomous and long transits. Following the acceptance process, these Liberty Ships are to be built in quantities of up to 20 per year at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana. This marks the US Navy's entry into autonomous supply operations for the fleet. Depending on logistical requirements and the experience gained in operating this platform, correspondingly larger ships can be built later using the same design.