A team of students from the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT-Madras has won the 2026 Njord Challenge in Norway, an international competition focused on testing autonomous surface vessels in real-world maritime conditions.
Team Aritra emerged as the overall champion with 90.42 points, finishing ahead of MYS YAVUZ from Türkiye, which scored 79.90 points, and AGH Solar Boat from Poland, with 79.63 points.
Organised by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the competition was held in Trondheim from August 10 to 14. It brought together 23 teams and around 150 participants from 9 countries.
The teams were evaluated across a range of autonomous maritime tasks, including docking, collision avoidance, manoeuvring and pathfinding. Technical inspection, reporting and presentations were also part of the assessment.
A surprise autonomy challenge further tested how well teams could respond to unfamiliar situations and adapt their vessels accordingly.
Team Aritra was mentored by Dr Abhilash Sharma Somayajula and Prof M.A. Atmanand, with support from the Marine Autonomous Vessels Laboratory.
Extensive preparation included testing the vessel at the Ocean Engineering Department’s wave basin and the IIT-Madras campus lake. These trials helped the team prepare for the challenging conditions of the international competition.
The achievement adds to IIT-Madras’ earlier performance at the Njord Challenge. In 2023, another team from the institute finished 3rd globally and also won the Sustainability Award.
Autonomous surface vessels have potential applications across maritime surveillance, infrastructure monitoring, environmental data collection and hydrographic surveys, making developments in this field increasingly relevant to the future of maritime operations.
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