Teignbridge Propellers International has equipped a pioneering autonomous ship with a propulsion system that will enable it to safely travel around the world.

Mayflower Autonomous Ship

Teignbridge Propellers provided the propulsion package for the Mayflower Autonomous Ship. Photo: Teignbridge Propellers

The UK company provided the propulsion package for the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS). This includes a custom-designed four-blade Hi Skew propeller.

Mark Phare, sales and marketing director at Teignbridge, stated: “This is a fantastic project that speaks to the future of marine exploration and the transformation of the shipping industry at large. Powered by AI and the energy from the sun, the new Mayflower provides a cost-effective and flexible platform for gathering data about the health of the ocean.

“Teignbridge is renowned for pioneering innovation and cutting edge technological solutions in the propulsion field. Naturally, we are very proud to have supported and to be associated with this project. We will be watching the progress of the MAS with great interest as she sets sails into the future.”

Designed and built to cross oceans autonomously and gather vital environmental data, the MAS needs to have reliability at its core. Launched last week into the Plymouth Sound, the MAS will spend the next six months in sea trials and undertaking multiple research missions, before attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean in Spring 2021.

Teignbridge said the MAS is not the first autonomous vessel its team have supplied recently, and electric propulsion systems are becoming more and more common.

By Rebecca Jeffrey