Humanoid & robot atlas
SOLEIL (MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial)
Photo: Olegushka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pilot useJapanSupervised

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding with Shin Nihonkai Ferry · autonomous vessel

SOLEIL

MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial

A newly built 222 m coastal ferry fitted with Mitsubishi's SUPER BRIDGE-X system, which steered the ship, avoided other traffic using radar and infrared cameras, and berthed and unberthed it, including turning and reversing in port. It was a one-off demonstration within Japan's MEGURI2040 crewless-ship programme.

Price
—Service vessel, not sold
Autonomy
SupervisedHow it runs
Driverless
Not yetSafety driver on board
Fleet
1Reported; details below
Speed
48.2 km/hFaster than 50%
Range
—Not published
Compare

Why it matters

Described by The Nippon Foundation as the first fully autonomous navigation of a large (over 200 m) vessel, at up to 26 knots.

Real-world use

On 17 January 2022 the 222 m ferry ran about 240 km from Shinmoji (Kitakyushu) to the Iyonada Sea in roughly 7 hours under the MEGURI2040 programme.

Timeline

First shown
2022-01-17
Released
Not yet
MEGURI2040 demonstration, northern Kyushu

Maker

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding with Shin Nihonkai FerryCompany

How it drives

Fleet and city figures move fast; each carries its date and who reported it.

Driverless status
Safety driver on board
Where it runs
Shinmoji (Kitakyushu) to Iyonada Sea, Japan
Fleet
1 vessel (Nippon Foundation, Jan 2022)
Rides, miles or loads
About 240 km in about 7 hours on 17 Jan 2022 (Nippon Foundation)

How it stacks up

Against other boats & ships that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. CorsairSaronic Technologies · 202464.8 km/h
  2. TCB Marlin SIDASefine Shipyard with Aselsan · 202464.8 km/h
  3. Sea Hunter (ACTUV)Leidos for DARPA (built by Christensen Shipyards and Vigor Industrial) · 201650.0 km/h
  4. SOLEIL (MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial)Mitsubishi Shipbuilding with Shin Nihonkai Ferry · 202248.2 km/h
  5. Yara BirkelandYara International with Kongsberg Maritime · 202127.8 km/h
  6. Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS400)ProMare with IBM · 202118.5 km/h
  7. Maxlimer (SEA-KIT X-class USV)SEA-KIT International · 20187.4 km/h

SOLEIL (MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial) is faster than 50% of the 6 other boats & ships that publish a speed. Bars show the 6 closest in date.

Speed 48.2 km/h 7.4 km/h64.8 km/h #4 of 7 · faster than 50%

Not published by the maker: height, weight, payload, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

How much public attention SOLEIL (MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial) gets, from open data.

  • No Wikipedia article of its own yet
  • No recent press stories listed yet

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

No component details published yet.

Movement
Other movement
How it runs
Supervised. Works by itself while a person watches and steps in.

From the maker

SOLEIL (MEGURI2040 autonomous ferry trial) is the only vehicle from Mitsubishi Shipbuilding with Shin Nihonkai Ferry in the atlas.

Made, sold and where

No production or sales figures published yet.

Price
Not publishedService vessel, not sold
How to get one
No official buying page found

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

The Nippon Foundation World's first fully autonomous navigation demonstration on a large car ferry (SOLEIL) The Nippon Foundation MEGURI2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Program

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