Autonomous Vessel Technology, Safety, and Ocean Impacts

In this age of automation and robotics, it is not surprising that maritime shipping, one of the oldest and most conservative of industries, is looking to modernize and transform itself by applying autonomous technology to ships much like the automobile industry with self-driving cars and trucks, and the commercial aircraft industry with its aircraft drones. There are two types of autonomous vessel technology currently being explored by various research projects in Europe. One is a vessel operated remotely by a shoreside operator, and the other a vessel operated completely independent of human control; the second has advanced decision support systems onboard undertake all the operational decisions independently.1 The primary driving forces for autonomous ships are twofold: (1) to reduce operating costs as a result of increased operating efficiency, decreased crew and shipbuilding costs that reduce the cost per ton mile of cargo carried, and (2) to reduce potential accidents due to human error, as about 75 to 96 percent of marine casualties are caused, at least in part, by some form of human error.2 The motivation is not to just reduce operating costs and human error but to create a real transformation in the industry. Without humans being physically onboard, the deck house, crew quarters and related ventilation, heating, and sewage systems can be eliminated. Ships can be lighter and more aerodynamic thereby reducing fuel and construction costs and increasing cargo capacity. Those developing autonomous designs anticipate that the remote operations of ships will occur initially, and eventually move towards full autonomy of ships.