Dover Harbour is soon to have a smart ‘digital twin’ to aid safer navigation.
The AI-augmented simulation will provide real-time, round-the-clock data on the complex tidal flows across the harbour. This is turn will enable better prediction of conditions, helping the Port of Dover remain operational during inclement weather and welcome a greater range of possibly larger vessels.
Funding comes via a £333,585 grant from Innovate UK to the port and project partners, the universities of Plymouth and Manchester.
This funding underpins a three-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership that will harness the universities’ expertise in hydrodynamic modelling and research in AI and machine learning.
“This project will play a vital role in our journey to become the UK’s most seamless, sustainable, and tech-enabled port,” said Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover.
“The enhanced navigational analysis brought by the digital twin of Dover Harbour – Britain’s busiest port - will extend our capability and operational hours and subsequently deliver a huge bonus of growth and productivity to the national economy.”
The newly announced funding award for the KTP forms part of a wider programme of digitalisation by the Port of Dover, including work on a similar land-side digital twin to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation, as well as using AI to optimise traffic flows and port operations.
