Hydro Marine to boost water transport with autopilot boats

The Managing Director, Hydro Marine, Festus Hodewu, has said that autopilot boats will boost water transportation in Nigeria.

Speaking at the launch of the company’s three high-tech boats, which was manufactured locally in Ajah Lagos, Hodewu, noted that the next boat that would be constructed in Nigeria would be completely automated and world standard.

He said the autopilot boats would have modern features that would make water transport attractive and boost the economy of Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole, adding that the company will launch the autopilot boats by December 2021.

“I can actually stay in Ajah and send my boat and the pilot just sits down in there and relax immediately he takes off from Ajah jetty and relax. My autopilot is completely automatic; you can actually disengage your autopilot at any time. So that is what we see ourselves doing even before the end of the year,” he added.

On the newly launched boats with the capacity of 70, 55 and 36 passengers, he said the boats are world-class standard and they are all built from aluminium (alloy).

He added that people could find all the equipment expected in the aircraft in the boats, which makes it different from other boats.

“In our boats, there is radar working properly from my embarkation, I know when I’m getting to my destination. Now I have my radar working properly, I know what my weather is saying, I know what the water is saying, and then I’m prepared for it.

“Accident comes when you’re not prepared. An accident happened when you have done something wrong, which means you are operating on an unsafe act. But I know from my embarkation that, look the tie-ride is 1.2 meter high, I’m prepared for it because my radar is telling me,” he explained.

He said there is an alarm in the boat that alerts the pilot that there is something in the water or the boat is about to have a collision and all the pilot has to do is to take notice of the alarm.

“For instance, from a distance, if I’m doing a speed, the alarm will be notifying me that, with this my bearing; you will have a collision in the next two nautical miles. One nautical mile, 500 meters, so is telling me what is even in the water.