Students from the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) have won the 2026 Njord Challenge, an international competition in Norway that tests autonomous surface vessels in maritime conditions.

Organised by NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), the competition was held in Trondheim from 10 to 14 August 2026. It brought together 23 teams and 150 participants from nine countries, including India, Türkiye, Norway, Poland, Canada, Japan, Spain, Croatia and Scotland.

The teams were evaluated on autonomous docking, collision avoidance, manoeuvring and pathfinding, as well as technical inspection, reporting and presentation. A surprise autonomy challenge was also introduced to assess how teams adapted their systems to an unfamiliar situation.

Team Aritra from IIT Madras secured the overall championship with 90.42 points, finishing ahead of MYS YAVUZ from Türkiye with 79.90 points and AGH Solar Boat from Poland with 79.63 points.

Dr Abhilash Sharma Somayajula, Associate Professor, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, mentored the team along with Prof. M.A. Atmanand. Dr Prabhakaran Jay and senior members of the Marine Autonomous Vessels (MAV) Laboratory also supported the students in development, testing and deployment.

Dr Somayajula said, “Our vision at the Marine Autonomous Vessels Laboratory is to help build the capabilities that India will need as marine autonomy becomes increasingly important. At the same time, we want the laboratory to be an environment where the next generation of marine roboticists can pursue their curiosity, express their creativity and learn by tackling real engineering problems.”

The team prepared for the competition through testing at the wave basin in IIT Madras’ Department of Ocean Engineering and the institute’s campus lake.

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