IIT-Madras students win Norway Njord challenge
Chennai, Sep 18 (UNI) The Ocean Engineering students of IIT-Madras have won the 2026 Njord Challenge, an international competition in Norway that tests autonomous surface vessels in real-world maritime conditions.
The victory by Team Aritra marks a significant achievement for IIT-Madras' programme in marine autonomous systems. It also builds on the Departments' earlier success at the competition, where a different cohort of Team Aritra students finished third globally and won the Sustainability Award in 2023. Autonomous surface vessels have potential applications in coastal and harbour surveillance, port and strategic infrastructure monitoring, environmental and oceanographic data collection, hydrographic surveys and other persistent maritime operations where reducing the need for continuous human presence can improve safety and operational efficiency.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, met the students of Team Aritra and congratulated them on their victorius performance. He also encouraged them to not stop here but to take forward their work and ensure their expertise benefits the country. Autonomous surface vessels have potential applications in coastal and harbour surveillance, port and strategic infrastructure monitoring, environmental and oceanographic data collection, hydrographic surveys and other persistent maritime operations where reducing the need for continuous human presence can improve safety and operational efficiency.
Organised by NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), the Njord Challenge gives students hands-on experience in developing and deploying autonomous vessels under realistic maritime conditions. Held in Trondheim, Norway, from August 10-14, the competition brought together 23 teams filled with 150 participants from nine countries including India, Turkiye, Norway, Poland, Canada, Japan, Spain, Croatia and Scotland.
Dr. Abhilash Sharma Somayajula, Associate Professor, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, mentored the team with Prof.M.A.Atmanand. Dr. Prabhakaran Jay and senior members of the Marine Autonomous Vessels (MAV) Laboratory, IIT Madras, also supported the students in development, testing and deployment.
