Objective  To meet the requirements of remotely controlling ship in curved, narrow and crowded inland waterways, this paper proposes an approach that consists of CNN-based algorithms and knowledge based models under ship-shore cooperation conditions.

  Method  On the basis of analyzing the characteristics of ship-shore cooperation, the proposed approach realizes autonomous perception of the environment with visual simulation at the core and navigation decision-making control based on deep reinforcement learning, and finally constructs an artificial intelligence system composed of image deep learning processing, navigation situation cognition, route steady-state control and other functions. Remote control and short-time autonomous navigation of operating ships are realized under inland waterway conditions, and remote control of container ships and ferries is carried out.

  Results  The proposed approach is capable of replacing manual work by remote orders or independent decision-making, as well as realizing independent obstacle avoidance, with a consistent deviation of less than 20 meters.

  Conclusions  The developed prototype system carries out the remote control operation demonstration of the above ship types in such waterways as the Changhu Canal Shenzhou line and the Yangtze River, proving that a complete set of algorithms with a CNN and reinforcement learning at the core can independently extract key navigation information, construct obstacle avoidance and control awareness, and lay the foundation for inland river intelligent navigation systems.