The research programme will enable Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships to read, interpret, and act upon official navigational information
The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and Marine AI, a specialist in maritime autonomy software, have launched a research programme to enable Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) to read, interpret, and act upon official navigational information
The project, spanning eight months, will see Marine AI refine its baseline large language model (LLM) to process Admiralty Sailing Directions (SDs) information and Radio Navigation Warnings (RNWs) and feed this structured information into the GuardianAI software suite for autonomous control. The development could transform global shipping by allowing uncrewed vessels to make safe and real-time decisions based on the authoritative data professional mariners use.
Currently, MASS relies on human operators to interpret text-heavy navigation data, often represented in non-standard nautical language and distributed through legacy systems. This project hopes to manage the challenges that unstructured text, legacy broadcast formats, and the lack of machine-readability create by preserving a bespoke LLM and developing supporting AI agents to structure the data before being fed into GuardianAI's tactical engine and human-machine interface.
By addressing these challenges, the research will enable autonomous vessels to operate more independently, responding instantly to navigational warnings and SDs without the need for human interpretation.
The research programme will culminate in a live on-water demonstration in spring 2026, utilising ZeroUSV’s Oceanus12 vessel equipped with Marine AI’s GuardianAI suite on Plymouth’s waterways, alongside advanced simulation events. The results will inform the International Hydrographic Organisation’s S-100 data framework, the new universal standard that will underpin the next generation of navigation technologies.
Oliver Thompson, technical director at Marine AI, said, “This is the first time anyone has attempted to process Admiralty Sailing Directions and Radio Navigation Warnings in a way that an autonomous control system can act upon. By proving this capability on the water, we are closing one of the biggest gaps in MASS autonomy and taking a major step toward safe, fully automated operations.”
Mark Casey, head of Research, Design and Innovation at the UK Hydrographic Office, said, “Working with Marine AI allows us to push the boundaries of how autonomous systems can use official hydrographic information. The outcomes will not only support the safety of lives at sea but also feed directly into the development of the IHO’s S-100 framework, ensuring that UKHO data continues to set the global benchmark for safe navigation in both crewed and uncrewed vessels.”
