Ship Intelligence
Remote and
Autonomous Ships
The next steps
RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Page
Introduction
3
Author(s)
Background
4
AAWAInitiative
5
Visionofremotecontrolledshipoperation
6
Voyageplanningandinitiation
8
Unmooringandmanoeuvringoutofharbour
9
Operationmodesatopensea
10
Portapproachanddocking
12
Applicabilityfordifferentshiptypes
12
Conclusion
13
Technologiesformarinesituationalawarenessandautonomousnavigation
15
EsaJokioinen
JonnePoikonen
Autonomousnavigationofthevessel
18
MikaHyvönen
Situationalawareness(SA)forautonomousships
23
AnttiKolu
Off-shipcommunication
30
TeroJokela
JariTissari
AriPaasio
LegalImplicationsofremoteandautonomousshipping
HenrikRingbom
Introduction
36
FelixCollin
Lawatsea
36
MikaViljanen
Technicalrequirements
40
Liabilityrules
49
Summary
54
Safetyandsecurityinautonomousshipping–challengesforresearchand
35
56
RistoJalonen
RistoTuominen
Introducingofautonomousmerchantshipsformaritimeoperation
58
MikaelWahlström
Are‘unmannedships’safe?
59
Preconditionsofsafetyandsecurity
60
Focalareasofrisk–someselectedexamples
62
Managingshippingsafetyandsecurityinshortandlongterm
68
Buildingriskunderstandingforthefuture
72
Recommendations
72
development
FromInnovationstoMarkets–RedefiningShipping
74
JouniSaarni
Redefiningshipping–atransitiontoautonomousshipping
75
SiniNordberg-Davies
Autonomousshipping–anissueofbusinessrelationshipsand
77
HannuMakkonen
networks
Autonomousshipping–arenewedsetofrolesbetweenthekey
79
actors
Transitiondriverstoautonomousshipping
80
Transitionroadmap
82
Conclusion
85
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Introduction
EsaJokioinen–Rolls-Royce–HeadofBlueOceanTeam
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
1.Background
“Autonomousshippingisthefutureofthemaritimeindustry.Asdisruptiveasthesmartphone,the
smartshipwillrevolutionisethelandscapeofshipdesignandoperations”
MikaelMakinen,PresidentRolls-RoyceMarine
Tenyearsagotheveryideathatyoucouldmanageyourlifethroughasmallglassscreen,was
consideredalmostimpossible.Nowfewofuswouldwanttobewithoutone.Twoyearsagotalkof
intelligentshipswasconsideredbymanyasafuturisticfantasy.Today,theprospectofaremote
controlledshipincommercialusebytheendofthedecadeisareality.
Thetechnologies,particularlysensortechnologies,neededtomakeremoteandautonomousshipsa
realityalreadyexist.Thechallengeistofindtheoptimumwaytocombinethemreliablyandcost
effectively.Thedecisionalgorithmswhichwillhelpsuchvesselsdecidewhatactiontotakeinthelight
ofthatsensorinformationarebeingperfected.Thisrequiresaninterpretationofmaritimerulesand
regulationsleadingtochallengesofinterpretationfortheprogrammer.Thedevelopmentofdecision
supportsystemswillbeagradualanditerativeprocesssubjecttoextensivetestingandsimulation.
Tosecureregulatoryapproval;aswellasindustrysupportandpublicacceptance,remoteand
autonomousshipswillneedtobeasleastassafeasexistingvessels.Theyhavethepotentialtoreduce
humanbasederrorsbutatthesametimenewtypesofriskwillariseandwillneedtobeaddressed.A
comprehensiveandstructuredwaytoidentifyandaddresstheserisksisrequired.
Unmannedshipsopenupexcitingpossibilitiestoredefinethewayashipisdesignedandfunctions.
Whentherearenopeopleonboard,manyconstraintsontheshiplayoutareremoved.Oneofthemost
obviousistheremovaloftheaccommodationandwiththattheentiredeckhouse.Thiswillsavecost,
weightandspace,aswellasenablingtheshiptocarrymorecargo.Ashipcontainssystemsthatare
onlytheretoservethecrew.Theirremovalwillsimplifytheentireship,whichshouldimprove
reliabilityandproductivitywhilereducingbuildandoperatingcosts.
Futurevesselswillstillneedhumaninputfromlandmakingconnectivitybetweentheshipandthe
shorecrucial.Suchcommunicationwillneedtobebidirectional,accurate,scalableandsupportedby
multiplesystemscreatingredundancyandminimisingrisk.Sufficientcommunicationlinkcapacityfor
shipsensormonitoringandremotecontrol,whennecessary,hastobeguaranteed.Continuous,
guaranteedconnectivitygivesustheabilitytomonitorequipmentinserviceinrealtimedetecting,
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
diagnosingandprioritisingissueswithcriticalequipmenthelpingcustomersgetthemostoutoftheir
assetsbyoptimisingbothoperationsandmaintenanceschedules.
Sucharichstreamofdataandmorestandardisedshipswillhaveenormousconsequencesforthe
shippingindustry.
Itwillallowshipownerstomanagetheirfleettooptimiseoperationsandmaximiseprofit.Bylooking
atdatafromindividualshipstogethertheywillbeabletoidentifythebestcombinationofroute,cargo,
maintenancescheduleandfuelpriceforthefleetasawholegettingthemaximumvaluefromasetof
veryexpensiveassets.
Inthisshipownerswillnotbealone.Increaseddigitalisationwillcreatenewshippingservices,suchas
moreefficientpoolingandalliances,leasingofassets,onlinecargoservicemarketplaces,etc.Someof
theseserviceswillsupportexistingmarketplayersandsomewillbedisruptive–allowinganew
playertoenterthemarketandtakeoverlargesharesofthebusinessinthesamewayasUber,Spotify
andAirbnbhavedoneinotherindustrysectors.
Rolls-RoycetogetherwiththeotherpartnersintheAAWAproject,DNVGL,Inmarsat,Deltamarin,
NAPA,BrighthouseIntelligence,FinferriesandESLShipping–andwiththesupportofTekesRollsRoyce–isleadingthisrevolution.
2.AAWAInitiative
TheAdvancedAutonomousWaterborneApplications(AAWA)Initiativeisa€6.6millionproject
fundedbyTekes(FinnishFundingAgencyforTechnologyandInnovation)aimstoproducethe
specificationandpreliminarydesignsforthenextgenerationofadvancedshipsolutions.
Itbringstogetheruniversities,shipdesigners,equipmentmanufacturers,andclassificationsocietiesto
exploretheeconomic,social,legal,regulatoryandtechnologicalfactors,whichneedtobeaddressedto
makeautonomousshipsareality.
Theprojectwillrununtiltheendof2017andwillpavethewayforsolutions-designedtovalidatethe
project’sresearch.TheprojectwillcombinetheexpertiseofsomeofFinland’stopacademic
researchersfromTampereUniversityofTechnology;VTTTechnicalResearchCentreofFinlandLtd;
ÅboAkademiUniversity;AaltoUniversity;theUniversityofTurku;andleadingmembersofthe
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
maritimeclusterincludingRolls-Royce,DNVGL,Inmarsat,Deltamarin,NAPA,Brighthouse
Intelligence,FinferriesandESLShipping.
Thewiderangingprojectlooksatresearchcarriedouttodatebeforeexploringthebusinesscasefor
autonomousapplications,thesafetyandsecurityimplicationsofdesigningandoperatingremotely
operatedships,thelegalandregulatoryimplicationsandtheexistenceandreadinessofasupplier
networkabletodelivercommerciallyapplicableproductsintheshorttomediumterm.The
technologicalworkstream,ledbyRolls-Royce,encompassestheimplicationsofremotecontroland
autonomyofshipsforpropulsion,deckmachineryandautomationandcontrol,using,wherepossible,
establishedtechnologyforrapidcommercialisation.
Forremotecontrolledandautonomousshipstobecomearealityanumberofcriticalquestionsneed
tobeanswered:
•
Whattechnologyisneededandhowcanitbebestcombinedtoallowavesseltooperate
autonomouslyandmilesfromshore;
•
Howcananautonomousvesselbemadeatleastassafeasexistingships,whatnewriskswillit
faceandhowcantheybemitigated;
•
Whatwillbetheincentiveforshipownersandoperatorstoinvestinautonomousvesselsand
•
Areautonomousshipslegalandwhoisliableintheeventofanaccident?
In2015thefirstphaseoftheprojecthasexaminedthecurrentstateofthemaritimeindustryand
whatcanbelearntfromotherindustries–fromaviation’sdronesanddriverlesscarstothe
smartphone.Theprojecthasexploredthecurrentstateofunderstandingofthetechnological,safety,
legalandeconomicaspectsofremoteandautonomousoperation.Thefindingsofthisresearchcanbe
foundinthiswhitepaper.
ThenexttwophasesofAAWAwillbuildonthefindingsfromthefirstphasetodevelopthetechnical,
legalandsafetyspecificationsforaproofofconceptdemonstratorbytheend
of2017.
3.Visionofremotecontrolledshipoperation
Theconceptofdynamicautonomy
Therearenumberofdifferentdefinitionsofautonomyandmachineintelligenceintheliterature.
Levelsofautonomy(LOA)areoftenusedtodescribetowhatdegreethemachinecanactonitsown.
Probablythemostwell-knowndescriptionsforLOAaredevelopedbyThomasSheridan.TheSheridan
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
scaleincludesacontinuousrangeofdefinitionsfromamachinebeingcompletelycontrolledbyhuman
(i.e.tele-operated)throughthemachinebeingfullyautonomousandnotrequiringanyinputfromthe
humanbeforetakingactions.
Level
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Description
The computer does everything autonomously, ignores human
The computer informes human only if it (the computer) decides so
The computer informes human only if asked
The computer executes automatically, when neccssary informing human
The computer allows human a restricted time to veto before automatic execution
The computer executes the suggested action if human approves
Computer suggests single alternative
Computer narrows aleternatives down to a few
The computer offers a complete set of decision alternatives
The computer offers no assistance, human in charge of all decisions and actions
Table1–Sheridanlevelsofautonomy
Differentvariationsofthistypesofscalehavebeendevelopedintheresearch.Acommonconclusionis
thatsuchscalesmaynotbeapplicabletoentireoperationbutaremostusefulwhenappliedto
differentsubtasksoftheautonomousmachine.
Thisconclusionisalsohighlyrelevantforautonomousshipsasthebehaviourofthevessel(i.e.LOA)
andrequiredamountofhumaninteractionwilldependentonthestateofthevesselandsubtaskbeing
executed.Thistypeof“adjustable”or“dynamic”autonomyisaconceptwhichisoftendiscussedin
contextofmobilerobotsinwhichthemachinecanbeoperatedforperiodsoftimeonitsown
dependingonthelimitsgivenforthedecisionmakingtolerance.Therobotcanhandlesimpletasks
autonomouslybutwhenthetasksaregettingmorecomplexincreasinginteractionwiththehuman
operatorisneeded.
Remotecontrolledshipswillfollowthistypeofdynamicautonomyapproachdependingonthestateof
thevesselandmissionbeingexecuted.Insomecases,suchasnavigationintheopenseas,theshipcan
benearlyfullyautonomouswhereasforsomepartsofthevoyageitwillrequireclosesupervisionand
decisionmaking,orevenfulltele-operationfromthehumanoperator.
Inordertounderstandhowautonomousshipswouldwork,anexampleofgeneralcargovessel
operatingbetweentwoportsisdescribedinthefollowing.Theexamplewillshowexamplesof
differentlevelsofautonomyduringdifferentphasesofthevoyage.Forsimplicityasinglevessel
operatedbyonehumanoperatorispresented.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
4.Voyageplanningandinitiation
Therearecertainthingswhicharerelatedtoremotecontroloperationthathavetobetakeninto
accountbytheoperatorwhileplanningthevoyageormissionforthevessel.Autonomousvesselswill
useamixofdifferentsatelliteandlandbasedcommunicationnetworksdependingontheir
availability,qualityandprice.Highbandwidthsatellitecommunicationsystemsprovidethecapability
tooperateanautonomousvesseldespitethelocationinvastmajorityofautonomousoperation
modes.Howeversomeoftheremotecontrolorremotesupervisionmodesmightrequirealatencyand
bandwidththatexceedsthecapabilityofthesatellitesystemsinadverseweatherconditions.The
operatorwillhavetoensurethatthereissufficientconnectivityfortheintendedmission.Evenifdata
transferofautonomousshipshashighestpriorityinthesenetworkstheoperatorwillhavetoreview
thetrafficandweatherconditionsinordertodecidewhatistheprimaryoperationstrategyforeach
leg.
Fromvoyageplanningpointofviewthismeansdefiningwhichlegsshallbeoperatedinremote
controlandwhichareexecutedautonomously.Oncethisdecisionhasbeenmade,theoperatorwill
havetofurtherdefinenavigationalstrategiesalongwithfallbackstrategiesforeachleg.Thefallback
strategysequenceisexecutedonlyiftheshipexperiencesanunexpectedreductioninconnectivity
simultaneouslywithoperationalchallengewhichwouldnormallyrequireoperatorintervention.
Thefallbackstrategycouldinclude:askingoperatortotakemanualcontrol(iffailed),slowdownand
proceedtofollowingwaypoint(iffailed),stopthevesselandstayinDPmode(iffailed),navigateto
previouswaypoint(iffailed),navigatebacktopresetsafelocation.Thecommandsandtheirexecution
sequenceisobviouslynotsameinallpartsofthevoyage.Forexampletryingtomaintainitspositionin
themiddleofacongestedandnarrowfairwayinharshweathermightnotbeafeasiblestrategy.The
voyageplanaswellasthefallbackstrategiescanalwaysbemodifiedduringthevoyageusingthe
satellitecommunicationlink.
Theshipwillalsoneedtohaveanautomaticsystemforverifyingtheseareadinessbeforestartingthe
voyage.Mostofthesystemscanbecheckedremotelybytheoperatorwhileinsomeareas(suchas
securingcargo)shorebasedcrewcanalsobeusedtocheckthatvoyagecanbestarted.
5.Unmooringandmanoeuvringoutofharbour
Themooringsystemsforanautonomousvesselcanbefullyorsemi-automatic.Inthecaseofafully
automaticmooringsystemthecompletemooringandunmooringoperationcanberemotecontrolled
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
orisautomaticallyexecutedbytheautonomousvessel.Semi-automaticmooringmeansthat
connectiontothequaycanbemadeautomaticallybutcrewisneededtosecurethedocking(i.e.using
conventionalrope-basedsystems).Bothoftheserequirepotentiallysomemodificationstothe
docksideinfrastructurewhichmeansthattheeconomicfeasibilityofthemooringsystemwilldepend
onhowmanyvesselsareabletousethesamedockingsystem.Solutionsforthisexistinthemarket
andAAWAexplorestheirfeasibilityforautonomousvesselsalongwithdevelopmentofnewpotential
automaticmooringarrangements.
Figure1–Semi-automatedmooringsystem
Whentheshipismanoeuvredoutofthecongestedharbourareatheoperatorcaneitherhavedirect
remotecontrolorsupervisorycontrolwhichissupportedbytheonboardsituationawareness
systems.Inthistypeofoperationahighbandwidthandlowlatencycommunicationlinkisneeded.In
certainareasthiscanbeprovidedbytheland-basedcommunicationnetworksandsatellite
communicationsystemsremainasback-up.
Figure2–Supervisoryteleoperation
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Remotecontrolcanmeandirectjoystick-typeoperationmodesalreadyexistinginthedynamic
positioningsolutionssuchaslockingspeed,headingorrelativepositiontoanobjectareavailable.
However,amorepracticalwayincaseofmostshiptypesiscontrollingthevesselbysendingwaypoint
andthedynamicpositioningcontrolcomputerandautonomouscontrolsystemtakescareofactual
propulsioncontrols.Insomeareasitispotentiallyalsofeasibletogodirectlytoautonomousmode
insteadofstartingwithteleoperationorsupervisorycontrol.
6.Operationmodesatopensea
Innormalautonomousmodetheshipexecutestheplannedmission(e.g.navigationtothenext
waypoint)accordingtothedefinedplan.Inthismodethedatatransferbetweentheshipandoperator
isminimisedandlimitedtoonlyrelevantstatusdatasuchasship’slocation,heading,speed,ETAto
nextwaypoint(orareaofclosersupervision)andkeyinformationfromthesituationalawareness
systemsaswellascriticalshipsystems.Whiletheinteractionrequirementbetweentheshipand
operatorisminimalinthisnormalstate,itispossiblefortheoperatortosupervisemorethanone
vesselatthetime.Thismeansthattheautonomylevelofthevesselishighaslongasthemission
executionisproceedingaccordingtotheplanmadebytheoperator.
Additionalinformationwillbeprovidedautomaticallyincasethesituationalawarenesssystemsand
theautonomousnavigationsystemautonomousdecisionmakingthresholdisexceededanduser
notification,confirmationorinterventionisrequired.Thismeansthattheautonomylevelis
dynamicallyadjustedifthemissionexecutionisnotproceedingaccordingtotheoriginalplanandthe
autonomousnavigationsystemseesthatadjustmentsareneeded.
Differentlevelsofoperatorinteractionwillberequesteddependingontheoperationalscenario.For
exampleifthevesselisdeviatingfromtheplannedcoursebetweenthetwowaypointsbutstayswithin
specifiedmarginstheautonomousnavigationsystemonlynotifiestheoperatoraboutplannedevasion
andgivestheoperatorapossibilitytovetoforalimitedtime.Oneexampleofsuchevasioncouldbe
takingautomaticactiontokeepoutofthewayofanothervesselbyslightlychangingtheheadingor
speed.TheoperatorcouldchoosetouseVHFradiotocommunicatewiththeothervesselandconfirm
thatactiontakenbythevesselissafeforbothparties,andifmodificationsareneededtheoperatorcan
takethevesselinmanualcontrol.
Amorecomplicatedcaserequiringuserdecisionmakingiswhenthevesselneedstochangethe
courseinsuchawaythatcompletewaypointhastobere-planned(e.g.evasionoroffsetfromthe
plannedpathisnotenoughtosolvethenavigationalchallenge).Inordertoensurethatchangestothe
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
planaremadeinasafewayoperatorconfirmationwillberequested.Theautonomousnavigation
systemwillofferoneormorealternativesofhowthewaypointcouldbemodifiedbuttheoperatorwill
finallymakethedecisionhowtocontinuethevoyage.
Itcanalsobeexpectedthattherewillbecomplexscenarioswheretheautonomousnavigationsystem
pathplanningandalgorithmscannotunambiguouslysolvethesituation.Exampleofthiscouldbeif
extremelylargenumberofcraftsorotherobjectsaredetectedandthepathplanningalgorithmsare
notcapabletoidentifythemandtherebythesystemcannotdeterminehowthenavigationshould
proceed.Inthistypeofscenariothevesselwillimmediatelysenda“pan-pan”messagetotheoperator
indicatingthatitisinurgentneedofassistance.Theshiphaspredefinedsetoffallbackstrategiesthat
itwillstarttoexecuteintheplannedorderifuserresponseisnotreceived,andin“pan-pan”-
dependingontheurgency,automaticfallbackstrategyexecutioncanalsobestartedimmediately.
Figure3–Differentscenariosrequiredifferentlevelsofoperatorinvolvement
Operationoftheautonomousvesselwillcombinedifferentautonomylevelsdynamicallydependingon
thestateofthevesselandexternalconditions.Obviouslyasthecontrolalgorithmswillevolveand
matureovertime,theshipswillbecapableofhandlingincreasinglycomplexsituationsontheirown.
Whentheautonomousshipfleetincreasesitwillalsobepossiblethattheautonomousshipsshare
voyageplansandcommunicatewitheachotherautomaticallywhichreducestheoperatorload.
However,therewillalwaysbemannedvesselssailingalongwithautonomousshipswhichmeansthat
humanoperatorwillbenecessaryforquitesometimetointerpretthisinformationuntilclear
standardsforinformationsharingbetweenmannedandunmannedvesselsaredeveloped.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
7.Portapproachanddocking
Whenapproachingtheportareatheoperatorcanagainchoosetotaketeleoperationtypecontrolor
increasethesupervisionlevelofthevessel.ThismightbenecessaryfromVTSpointofview,butalso
becausepilotingmightberequired.
Pilotingcaninthefuturebeorganisedinnumberofdifferentwaysforautonomousvessels.One
alternativeisthatthepilothascapabilitiestotakecontroloftheautonomousvessel,oralternatively
theautonomousvesseloperatorcanholdapilotlicensefortheintendedoperationareas.
Implementationofautonomousvesselswillmostlikelystartfromnationalorregionalwatersand
frequentrouteswhichmeansthatpilotingproceduresandpracticalitieswithVTScanbeagreedcaseby-caseforthefirstvessels.
Whenoperatingthevesselinproximityoftheshoreitisagainpossibletorelyontheland-based
systemsforcommunication.Additionallythenavigationsystemcanuselandbasedexternalreference
systemsforpositioningwhichwillbeusefulespeciallyinportareas.Inadditionlandbasedcamera
andradarsystemscanbeusedtonavigatethevesselsafelyalongsidethedock.
8.Applicabilityfordifferentshiptypes
Theexampledescribedintheearlierchaptergivesanideaofhowdynamicautonomywouldworkfor
shipoperations.Obviouslytypeandlevelofautonomywillbealsohighlydependentontheshiptype,
size,operationalareaandconditions.Forexampleanautonomoustugwouldfollowthesame
principlesbutastheoperationismuchmorefocusedaroundthetowingmission,thecontroland
autonomyprincipleshavetobedefinedfromadifferentpointofview.
Generallyspeakingthemorevariationsandcomplexitythemissionhas,themoretheshipwillhaveto
relyonoperatorassistanceandremotecontrolatleastinthefirstphasesoftheimplementation.
Anotherexamplecouldbeaninlandferrymakingtensofidenticalcrossingseveryday.Inthiscasethe
missioninitselfhasmuchlessvariationandtheautonomylevelinexecutingthetaskcanbemuch
higher.Atthesametimeitisimportanttokeepinmindthateventhoughthebasicmissionisnot
variedtoomuch,theconditionssuchasweatherandtrafficcanchangeconsiderably.Onboardcrew
mightstillbeneededinthesecasestosupervisesafetyoftheoperationseveniftheshipexecutesthe
basicmissionnearlyautonomously.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Inadditiontodifferencesinoperationandconditions,therearealsobigdifferencesinhowtheships
willreacttocontrolcommands.Alargecontainervesselandsmallgeneralcargovesselwillneedto
havetheirownship-specificmodelsofcontrolalgorithmseventhoughthefundamentalsofhowthey
reactautonomouslytodifferentnavigationalconditionswouldbefollowingthesameprinciples.
Technicallythisalsomeansthatthesituationalawarenesssystemwillhavetobedifferentasthe
reactiondistance(time)ofalargevesselisconsiderablyhigherandhigherpredictabilitylevelsare
needed.
9.Conclusion
ThefirstphaseoftheAAWAprojecthasexaminedthecurrentstateofthemaritimeindustryandwhat
canbelearntfromotherindustries.Theprojecthasexploredthecurrentstateofunderstandingofthe
technological,safety,legalandeconomicaspectsofremoteandautonomousoperation.
Theinitialconclusionsare:
1. Therewillbenosingleremoteorautonomousshipsolutionbutratherahybridofthetwo
whichwilldependonthetypeandfunctionofthevessel.
2. Thetechnologiesneededtomakeremoteandautonomousshipsarealityexist.Thechallenge
istofindtheoptimumwaytocombinethemreliablyandcosteffectively.Thedevelopmentof
decisionsupportsystemsforautonomousvesselswillbeagradualanditerativeprocessand
subjecttoextensivetestingandsimulation.
3. Theoperationofremoteandautonomousshipswillbeasleastassafeasexistingvessels.
Thereispotentialtoreducehumanbasederrorsbutatthesametimenewtypesofriskwill
ariseandwillneedtobeidentifiedandaddressed.
4. Legislationcanbechangedifthereisapoliticalwill.Forremoteandautonomousshippingto
becomearealityeffortisneededatallregulatorylevels.Thelegalchallengesofconstructing
andoperatingademonstrationvesselatanationallevelneedtobeexploredwhilst
simultaneouslyconsideringappropriaterulechangesattheIMO.Questionsofliabilityfor
autonomousshipsaresubjecttonationalvariations,butgenerallyitseemsthatthereisless
needforregulatorychangeinthisfield.Whatneedstobeexplored,however,istowhatextent
otherliabilityrules,suchasproductliability,wouldaffecttraditionalrulesofmaritimeliability
andinsurance.
5. Remoteandautonomousshipshavethepotentialtoredefinethemaritimeindustryandthe
rolesofplayersinitwithimplicationsforshippingcompanies,shipbuilders,maritimesystems
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
providersandtechnologycompaniesfromother(especiallytheautomotive)sectors.
Thenextstepsare:
•
thedevelopmentandtestingofspecifictechnologicalsolutionsforautonomousoperations
usingbothsimulatorsaswellastestsatseaacrossavarietyofenvironmentalconditions-the
optimumwaytocombinethedifferentsensortechnologiesinarangeofoperatingandclimatic
conditionswillbethesubjectofaseriesofteststhisyearonboardtheFinFerriesvessel,the
Stella,operatingbetweenKorpoandHoutskär;
•
researchtounderstandthechangedandnewrisks(avarietyofknownandunknownhazards)
presentedbynewandemergingtechnology,buildingonthemarineindustry’sexperienceof
systematicandcomprehensiveriskassessments,todevelopnewapproaches;
•
exploringthelegalchallengesofconstructingandoperatingademonstrationvesselata
nationallevelwhilstsimultaneouslyconsideringappropriaterulechangesattheIMO;
•
exploringstakeholderviewsofremoteandautonomousshippingtoestablishcostandrevenue
modelsofautonomousoperationfordifferentshiptypes.
TheoutcomePhaseIIwillbethetechnical,legalandsafetyspecificationsforafullscaleproofof
conceptdemonstratorbytheendof2017andaremotecontrolledshipincommercialusebytheend
ofthedecade.
Therevolutionhasbegun.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Technology
JonnePoikonen,SeniorResearchFellow,D.Sc.(Tech.),UniversityofTurku
MikaHyvönen,SeniorResearchFellow,D.Sc.(Tech.),TampereUniversityof
Technology
AnttiKolu,DoctoralStudent,M.Sc.(Tech.),TampereUniversityofTechnology
TeroJokela,SeniorResearchFellow,D.Sc.(Tech.),UniversityofTurku
JariTissari,ProjectResearcher,M.Sc.(Tech.),UniversityofTurku
AriPaasio,Professor,D.Sc.(Tech.),UniversityofTurku
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Technologiesformarinesituationalawarenessandautonomous
navigation
Technologiesforrealisingremoteandautonomousshipsexist.Thetaskistofindtheoptimumwayto
combinethemreliablyandcosteffectively.
Thedevelopmentofautonomousvehicles,eitheronland,airorseahasseengreatprogressduringthe
last10years.Thishasbeenenabledbyadvancesintechnologies,whichenableperceptionofthe
surroundingenvironment,pathplanningandvehiclecontrolinrealtime.Withacombinationofan
arrayofadvancedsensortechnologies–becomingavailablealsobeyondearliermilitaryandscientific
use–andrapidlyincreasingdataprocessingperformance,wehavereachedatechnologicallevelon
whichfullvehicularautonomyisindeedfeasible.
Themostprogresshasbeendemonstratedinthefieldofautonomouscars.Thisisnaturalduetothe
largemass-marketpotentialandtheglobalneedforincreasedtrafficsafety.Formilitaryapplications,
significantresearchanddevelopmenthasbeencarriedoutinthefieldsofautonomouslandvehicles,
aviationandalsomarinevessels,suchassmallpatrolandattackboats[Elkins,2010].Recently,efforts
tocreatesolutionsalsoforcivilianautonomousmarinevesselshaveseenasignificantincrease,e.g.in
theformofmanynewresearchprogramsinco-operationwithacademiaandmarinetechnology
companies,includingAAWA.
Oneofthekeytechnologiesforanyreliableautonomousvehiclenavigationissensorfusion.When
creatingSituationalAwareness(SA)foranautonomousvehicle,nosinglesensortechnologycan
providesufficientperformanceunderallpossibleconditions.Therefore,inordertoguaranteethatthe
informationonthevehicle’ssurroundingsissufficientlyaccurateatalltimes,theinputfrommultiple
sensorshastobecombinedandanalysed.Thesensordataprocessingshouldthenbeseamlessly
integratedwithsubsequentpathplanningandreactivecollisionavoidancesystems,whichmaintaina
constantlyupdateddetailedmapofthevehicle’senvironment,allowingthevehicletoplanitsroute
andavoidanycollisionswithobjectsorothervehicles.Themapgatheredfromsensordatacanalsobe
augmentedwithdatafromstaticmapdatabasessuchasGoogleMapsforcarsorelectronicnautical
charts(ECDIS)forships,whichpresentstaticobjectsofthesurroundingarea.
Researchonautonomouscarsoffersthemostextensivesourceofpubliclyavailableinformationon
technologiesdevelopedforautonomousvehicles.ThetoppartofFigure1illustratesatypicalsensing
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
andprocessingpipelineappliedinautonomouscars.Multiplesensorsareusedtoextractdatafrom
thesurroundingsofthevehicle.Thepreferenceondifferentsensortypesvaries:GoogleappliesLIDAR
asthemainsensorsource,whichissupportedbyotherdevices,whiletheapproachtakenbyTeslaor
MercedesBenzisbasedonthefusionofcamerasandshortrangeautomotiveradars.Theselectionof
theoptimalsensorplatformisaquestionofperformance,reliabilityandcost.ThedatafromtheSAsensorsisusedtocreatealocalmapofthesurroundingsofthecar,whichiscomparedtoverydetailed
mapsoreven3Dmodelsoftheareawherethevehicleismoving.Thisenablesextractingtheposition
andposeofthevehiclewithmoreaccuracythanispossiblewithjustGPS-basedlocalisation.Thelocal
mapofobstaclessurroundingthecarisalsousedforreactivecollisionavoidance.[Franke,2013],
[Guizzo,2011]
ThebottompartofFigure1illustratestheshipautonomyapproachcurrentlybeingdevelopedin
AAWA.Manyexistingtechnologicalsolutionsfromautomotivedevelopmentcanbedirectly,or
throughsomeadjustment,appliedalsotoautonomousmarinenavigation.Themainquestionis
thereforenotwhethertheimplementationofautonomousshipnavigationistechnicallypossible,but
whatisthecombinationoftechnologiesandmethodsthatprovidesthelevelofperformanceand
reliabilitythatisrequiredforpracticaloperationoflargevessels,andatareasonablecost.
Thekeyaspecttosuccessfulvehicularautonomyisreliabilityandsafety.Despitealloftherecent
technologicaladvances,conclusivedemonstrationsofsufficientlyreliableautonomouscarnavigation
invaryingreal-worldconditionshavenotbeenpresented.Eventhemostadvancedandwidelytested
automotivesolutionssuchasGoogle’sautonomouscarsstillstruggletocopewithunknown
environmentsandunexpectedevents,thusrequiringhumaninterventionfromtimetotime.Even
moreimportantly,tolerancetoextremeweatherconditionsisasignificantchallenge,whichsofarhas
notbeenfullyresolved.
Publishedmarinesolutionshavesofarbeendemonstratedonsmallboatsandwithonlye.g.alimited
useofsensoryfusionandautonomyandtypicallyunderfairlyeasyweatherconditions.IntheAAWA
project,thefocusisfromthestartonharsh,butstillrealistic,conditionsandontheparticular
challengesofautonomyandremotecontrolimplementationforevenlargeocean-goingships.Thisis
madepossiblebycloseco-operationbetweenresearchersandindustrialpartners.
Fortheimplementationofautonomousnavigationandreactivecollisionavoidance,themarine
applicationpresentsbothadvantagesandchallengescomparedtootherautonomousvehicles.
Becausethespeedofashipisfairlyslow,theinterpretationofSA-sensordataandnavigation
manoeuvresdonothavetobeasfastasine.g.automotiveapplications.Theshipisalsonotconfinedto
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
e.g.anarrowroad,whichmakesavoidingothervesselseasier.Ontheotherhand,theinertiaofaship
islargeanditisnotpossibletoe.g.makeasharpturnortostopquickly.Animportantaspecttoalso
takeintoaccountisthatthenumberofautonomousshipswill,inanyfuturescenario,beordersof
magnitudelowerthanwhatisenvisionedforautonomouscars.Whileitisnotfeasibletoapplyremote
humanmonitoring(controlcentre)forbillionsofautonomouscars,shorecontrolcentresdedicatedto
autonomousshipsarefeasible.Suchcentrescanoverseetheperformanceofmultipleships,andapply
remotecontrolsifnecessary.
Thisreportwilltakeacloserlookattheavailabletechnologiesthatcanbeappliedforshipautonomy
andtheremainingchallengesaheadtoreachrequiredtechnologicalreadinessforaproof-of-concept
demonstratorbytheyear2017.
1.
Autonomousnavigationofthevessel
1.1.
Reactivecontrolandpathplanningforcollisionfreenavigation
CollisionavoidanceforshipshasseengreatinterestafterWorldWarII,duetothedevelopmentof
radarandtherapidriseofthetrafficintheseas.Collisionavoidanceplaysamajorroleinthe
mariner’sdailyworkandbecausecriticaldecisionsofhumansarehighlysubjective,international
rulesformaritimecollisionavoidance(COLREGs)aredevelopedbyInternationalMarineOrganization
(IMO)tohelpnavigation.
Collision-freemotiontechniquescanbedividedintoeitherglobalmethods,basedonpathplanning
usingaprioriinformation,orlocalmethodswhicharebasedonreactivenavigationusingsensory
information.Inmotionplanningthepathissolvedbycomputingageometricaltrajectoryavoiding
knownobstacles,which,inreal-worlduncertainenvironments,willeasilyleadtocollision.Inreactive
navigationtherealityoftheenvironmentduringmotionistakenintoaccountusingarapidlyrepeated
perception-actionprocess.[Statheros,2008],[Pietrzykowski,2009],[Tam,2009],[Campbell,2012].
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Autonomouscarexample
ProposedmarinepipelineinAAWA
Figure1.Comparisonbetweenautomotiveandmarinenavigationpipelines.
Planningacollisionfreepathforanautonomousmachinethroughanenvironmentcontainingstaticor
movingobstacles,inthiscaseavesselmovinginbothharbourareaandopensea,isaproblemthathas
beenextensivelystudiedduringthepastdecades.Differentsystemsrequiredifferentplanning
strategies.Also,thekinematicanddynamicconstraintsofthevesselhavetobetakeninto
considerationwhenplanningthepath,sothattheplannedmanoeuvrescanbeexecuted.Forexample,
theturningradiusofthevessellimitstheminimumturningangleallowedforthepath.Also,the
dynamicsofthevesselneedtobetakenintoaccount,i.e.thevesselturningradiusalsodependson
speedofthevehicle.Forautonomousships,alsotheenvironmentalelementsneedtobetakeninto
accountwhenplanningapath.Weatherconditionshavealsoalargeeffectontheselectionofthebest
path.Thechallengesrelatedtoreactivenavigationaremainlyduetoinstabilityoftheclosedloop
controlduetothedynamicpropertiesoftheshipandsurroundingenvironment(waves,wind,sea
currents)andingettingtheproperinformationfromtheship’ssituationalawarenesssensors.
[Statheros,2008],[Pietrzykowski,2009],[Tam,2009],[Campbell,2012],[Elkins2010].
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Twoofthemostcommonpathplanningapproachesaregraph-basedandsampling-basedapproaches.
GraphbasedapproachessuchasA*andD*andtheirnumerousvariantshavebeenthemoststudied
algorithmsforoptimalpathplanningproblems.Themainadvantageofsampling-basedapproaches,
suchasprobabilisticroadmap(PRM)andrapidlyexploringrandomtree(RRT)andtheirvariants,is
theabilitytoeasilyincludedynamicandkinematicconstraintsofthevehicle.Forreactiveobstacle
avoidance,theseoptimalpathplanningapproachesmaynotbeefficientenough.Therefore,algorithms
suchasvelocityobstaclesarecommonlyused.[Campbell,2012],[Casalino,2009],[Lalish,2012],
[Evans,2008],[Sharma,2012],[Statheros,2008]and[Tam,2009]
1.2.
AutonomousNavigationSystem(ANS)ofAAWA
InAAWA,asolutionfortheintegrationofacompleteautonomousshipnavigationarchitectureis
beingdeveloped,whichtakesadvantageofaRolls-RoyceDynamicPositioning(DP)systemdeveloped
forfutureautonomousshipsandlinksitwithanAutomaticNavigationSystem(ANS),including
SituationalAwareness(SA),CollisionAvoidance(CA),RoutePlanning(RP),andShipStateDefinition
(SSD)modulesdevelopedintheAAWAproject.Figure2showsaschematicoftheANSarchitecture.
Figure2.AutonomousNavigationSystem(ANS)architecture.
ThehighestlevelintheANSsystemistheShipStateDefinition(SSD)moduleor“VirtualCaptain”(VC),
whichcombinesinformationfromdifferentANSsub-systems(SA,DP,RPandCA),aswellasfrom
othershipautomationsystemsandtheoperatortodeterminethecurrentstateoftheship’ssystems.
Thestateoftheshipdeterminestheallowedshipoperationmode,suchasautonomous,remotecontrolorfailsafe.ThestateinformationfromtheVCisalsousedtocontinuouslyinformtheoperator
aboutthestageoftheship.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Dynamicpositioningsystemsallowtheshiptoautomaticallymaintainitspositionorheadingbyusing
itspropellers,ruddersandthrusters.Whencombinedwithaglobalorlocalpositioningreferencesuch
asGlobalNavigationSatelliteSystem(GNSS),andwithwindsensorsandInertialMeasurementUnits
(IMUs),theshipisabletokeepitspositioneveninroughweatherconditions.ModernDPsystems,
suchasRollsRoyceIconDP,areabletoalsomanoeuvretheshipatslowspeed.Thisallowsthe
integrationofautonomousbehaviourinshipcontrol.AstheDPsystemalreadyhasinformationofthe
ship’smanoeuvringcapabilities,itisabletocalculatewheretheshipiscantomoveinthefuture.
Thesedynamicconstraintsontheship’smovementaretransmittedtotheCAmoduletoenablemore
efficientlocalpathplanning.
RoutePlanning(RP)moduleisasoftwaremodulethatisresponsibleforplanningthepathfromstart
tofinish,viapredefinedwaypoints,whileavoidingstaticobstaclesdefinedinelectronicnavigational
chartsandfollowingshippinglaneswhenadvisable.Thismoduleiscloselyrelatedtovoyageplanning
thatisnowadaysdonebytheshipcrew.However,theRPmoduleusestheplannedvoyageas
informationwhenplanningtheactualroutefortheship.Routeconsistsofwaypoints,headingsand
speedfortheship.TheRPmoduledoesnotplanroutesinrealtimeastheCAmoduleisresponsiblefor
manoeuvresdonetoavoidobstacles.
TheCollisionAvoidance(CA)moduleisresponsibleforsafeandcollisionfreenavigation.Ituses
informationfromtheRoutePlanningmoduletofollowapaththatleadstothedestinationbutcan
deviatefromthecourseifariskofcollisiondetected.TheSAmodulesuppliesthelocalmapand
obstacleinformationthatshowsthecurrentobstaclesneartheship.TheDPmodulesuppliestheCA
modulewithanareawheretheshipisabletomanoeuvreandthuscreatesboundariesfornew
waypointsthatcanberealisticallyassigned.TheCAmodulehastwomainfunctionalities,thefirstisan
assessmentofthecollisionriskandthesecondistonavigatetheshipsafelybothintheharbourandin
theopensea.Whenacollisionriskisdetected,asuitablestateisrequestedfromtheSSDmodule,in
whichafinaldefinitionoftheshipstateismadebasedonallgivendatafromdifferentsub-systems.
Thesituationalawareness(SA)moduleoftheANSisconnectedtomultiplesensordevicesofdifferent
types.TheSAmodulefusesthesensordataandextractsrelevantinformationontheship’s
surroundingstobeusedbytheCAsystem.TheSAmodulecanalsoperformreductionofsensordata
formoreefficientoff-shipdatacommunication.TechnologydevelopmentissuesrelatedtotheSA
systemandtheshipsensorsarediscussedinSections2and3.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
1.3.
Environmentalmappingandobstacledetectionforautonomousshipnavigation
Mappingmeansthecreationofarepresentationoftheworld.Therearemultiplewaysthemapping
processcanbeperformedandwhatkindofapresentationoftheworldiscreated.Theseare
dependentontheapplication,wherethemapsareneededandwhatsensorsareusedforperceiving
theenvironment.Mapinformationisusedinforpathplanning,obstacleavoidance,andlocalisationof
theautonomousship.
Onseaandharbourarea,itispossibletousenauticalandterrainchartstoobtaininformationabout
shippinglanes,shoalsandcoastalterrain.Dynamicobstacles,suchasothervessels,aremappedby
usingtheship’ssituationalawarenesssystem,combinedwithe.g.AISdata.Manymethodshavebeen
developedforprocessingperceptiondataformodellingandrepresentinga2Dor3Dworld,to
mentionforexampleoccupancygridmaps,heightgridandQuadtreetypeofmaps.[Mooney]
Twoofthemostcommonapproachesforpresentingtheworldaretopologicalandmetricmaps.
Topologicalapproachesdescribetheconnectivityofspatiallocationsintheenvironment,whereas
metricmapsdescribetheworldthroughageometricpresentation.Topologicalmapsarebestsuited
forhigh-levelpathandmissionplanning.Metricmapscontaingeometricinformationthatisnecessary
toplanandexecutetrajectoriessafelywhileavoidingcollisions.Themappingprocesscreatesa
representationofthesurroundingworld.[Elfes,1987],[Broten2012].
Obstaclescanbepresentedaspartsofthemap,butitcanalsobebeneficialtopresentdynamic
obstaclesseparately.Objectdetectionandtrackingiscloselyrelatedtoobstacleavoidanceprocedures
andtogethertheyensurecollisionfreenavigationofthevessel.Thereareseveralmethodsdeveloped
forobstacletracking,commonlyusedareparticleandextendedKalmanfilters.Whenaseparate
presentationisusedfordynamicobstacles,usingnovelsensorfusiontechniquesandcommercialship
objecttrackingfunctionalities(ARPA),theirmovementsandactionscanbeeasiertopredict.For
example,obstaclescanhavespeedorapredefinedpath,aswellaskinematicpropertiesthatcanbe
usedtopredicttheirpositionsinthefuture.[Sinisterra,2014]
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
2.
SituationalAwareness(SA)forautonomousships
2.1.Sensoringtheshipenvironment
Methodsforthefusionofmultiplesensortypes,suchasLIDARs,camerasandradarshavebeen
activelystudiedforautomotiveapplications[Herpel,2008],[Mukhtar,2015].Forexample,ashortrangeradarorLIDARcanprovideaccuraterange,velocityandangularmeasurementofobjects,while
cheaperandsmallercamerascanprovidebetterspatialresolutionforobjectclassification.Near-IR
(NIR)cameras,withactiveillumination,orthermalLWIRcamerascanbeusedalsofornight-time
imaging.Ontheotherhand,theuseofaradarallowsoperationalsounderdifficultweatherconditions
(e.g.heavyrainorsnow)wherethecameras(includingIR)mayfail.Thesameissuesapplyalsoto
marineSAsensors.
Themaintaskofsensorfusionistocombinethedatafromdifferentsensorsourceinsuchawaythat
optimalSAperceptionisguaranteedunderallconditionsandinallsituations.SAdataisthenusedto
maplocalobstaclestoenablereactivecollisionavoidance.
2.1.1SensortechnologiesforSituationalAwareness
Cameras
CamerasareanaturalchoiceforSA.Theyarecheap(withsomeexceptions),smallinsizeanddurable,
andcanprovideveryhighspatialresolutionwithcolourinformationforobjectidentification.True
night-visionispossiblewiththermalIRimagersandapairofcamerascanbeusedinastereoscopic
configurationfor(limited)3Dsensing.Duetothehugerangeofbothcommercialandniche
applications,cameratechnologyisstillconstantlyimproving.Thelargeexistingknowledge-baseon
visualanalysisalgorithmsprovidesmanypotentialsolutionsalsoformarineSituationalAwareness.
NormalvisualspectrumHDcamerasareseenasanimportanttechnologytobefusedwithother
sensorydata.Highspatialresolutionallowsforrecognitionofobjectsandobstacles,eitherbyahuman
remoteoperatororthroughautomatedanalysisalgorithms,andcolourinformationcanbeusedto
helptheseparation(segmentation)ofrelevantobjectsfromthebackground(seasurface).
Adisadvantageofcamerasisthemassiveamountsofdatageneratedbyhigh-resolutionsensors,
whichrequiresextensiveprocessingperformanceandhigh-bandwidthdatalinksforanalysisand
transmission.However,whenconsideringamarineSAimplementationonalargeship,the
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
requirementse.g.intermsofthesmallsizeorlowpowerconsumptionofprocessinghardware,are
muchlessstrictthanformanyotherautonomousplatforms,suchascarsoraircraft.
Visualspectrumcamerashavesomeseverelimitations:theycannotbeusedinthedark(apartfrom
detectinglights)andtheirseeingdistancedropsveryquicklyinbadweather,suchasfogorheavyrain.
BetterperformancecanbeobtainedwithcamerasoperatingintheInfrared(IR)range.Near-IR(NIR)
sensingiscommonlyusedfornight-visioninsecuritycameras,becauseNIRsignalscanbecaptured
withinexpensiveCMOS/CCDcamerasensors.This,however,requiresactiveIRilluminationofthe
scene,whichisnotpracticalforshipSA.Truepassivenight-visioncanberealizedwithLong-WaveIR
(LWIR)cameras,whicharesensitivetoIRradiationinthe8-14µmwavelengthrange.Because
thermalLWIRradiationispassivelyemittedbyallobjects,LWIRsensorscanbeusedforimagingin
totaldarkness.Duetothevaryingthermalemittanceproperties,dependingone.g.surfacematerials
andsurfacegeometry,avisuallymeaningfulimagecanbecreatedevenfromobjectsandscenes,where
theaveragetemperatureiseffectivelyuniform.AscanbeseenfromFigure3,thermalimagingcanbe
beneficialevenindaylightconditions,e.g.indifficultilluminationconditions.
Figure3.DaylightScenecapturedwithanormalcameraandathermalcamera.
Microbolometer-basedLWIRcamerasarethemostaffordablethermalimagingtechnology.
Furthermore,unlikesomeotherIRtechnologies,bolometersensorsdonotrequirecryogeniccooling,
leadingtosimpler(morerobust)camerahardware.Thedisadvantageofbolometer-basedLWIR
sensorsistheirlowresolution(typically640x480pixels,megapixelsensorsareavailablebutvery
expensive),i.e.forthesamespatialaccuracy,thefield-of-view(FOV)isnarrowerthaninanormalHD
camera,ascanbeseenfromFigure4.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Figure4.Fusionofvisuallightandthermalimagingatnight.
Morerecently,Short-WaveIR(SWIR)cameratechnologyhasbecomeavailablealsofornon-military
andorscientificapplications[Stark,2015].SWIRsensorsoperateinthe1-3µmwavelengthregion,
wherethedetectedsignalisnotpassivelyemitted(thermal),butreflectedradiation.SWIRsensors
providebettervisibilitythroughhazeorfogthanvisualspectrumcamerasandtheyalsoworkwellin
verylowlightconditions,butnotintotaldarkness.IthasbeenstatedthatSWIRenablesbetter
detectionrangeunderhumidandfoggyconditionsthanLWIR[Wallace,2013].However,SWIR
technologyiscurrentlymoreexpensivethane.g.LWIR,anddoesnotimproveonthespatialresolution.
WhileIRsensorsofferbettervisibilitythanvisualrangecameras,theirperformanceisalsodegraded
inbadweather.Forexample,differentIR-bandsareattenuateddifferentlydependingonthelevelof
humidityintheatmosphere,whichcanleadtogreatlyvaryingseeingrangesdependingonweather
conditions[Beier,2004].Thisiswhyasensorsourcewhichisrobustagainstweathereffects,suchas
radar,hastobefusedwiththelessreliablecameradata.
RadarandLIDAR
Camera-basedsensing(fusionofvisualandthermalimaging)hastwosignificantdisadvantages
regardingtoSAextractioninautonomousvehicles1)insufficientweathertoleranceand2)lackofan
easywaytoextractobjectdistanceinformation.
Acombinationoftwomonocularcamerascanbeusedtoimplementstereoimaging,i.e.createa3D
mapofthevisualscenethroughdisparitymappingbetweentwoimages.Thedrawbackofstereo
imagingisthecomputationalcomplexityrelatedtolargeamountsofimagedataappliedtostereo
matchingalgorithm.Also,thechoiceofcamerabaseline,i.e.thephysicalseparationofthetwosensors,
effectivelysetsconstraintsonthedistanceresolvingcapabilityofthesystem.Muchbetter
performancecanbeobtainedbyusingactivesensortechnologies,suchasradarorLIDAR.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Inmaritimeapplicationstheuseofradarhasalonghistory.Therefore,severalradarsystemsuppliers
canbefoundinthemarketforobstacledetectionandmapping.Radarcapabilityisinfluencedbythe
operatingfrequencybandoftheradar,sothattypicallyhigherfrequenciesofferbetterangleandrange
resolution.Thereisawidevarietyofradarsinthemarket,intendedfordifferentpurposes,having
specificcarrierfrequencies,bandwidths,transmitdurations,waveforms,antennasetc.Typically,
marineradarsaremicrowaveradarsusingS-orX-bands,whicharerobustindifferentweather
conditions.[Heuel,2013]
However,theresolutionoftraditionalmarineradarmaynotbesufficientforreactivecollision
avoidance.Forexample,consideringanautonomousshipinaharbourareaorapproachingthedock,
theresolutionoftheradarintheverynearfield,i.e.somehundredsofmeters,needstobegood
enoughtobeabletodetect,andmaybealsotrack,evensmallstationaryandmovingobjects.NewKa
andW–bandradars,originallydevelopedforautomotiveapplications,couldbebeneficialin
autonomousshipapplications,especiallyforverycloserangeobstacledetection.Theyoffermuch
betterangularanddistanceresolutionthantraditionalshipradars,atthecostofreducedrange.These
newtypeofradarstogetherwithmodernS-andX-bandradarsandseveraldifferenttypeofcameras
areexploitedinthedevelopmenttoenablenear-fieldreactivecollisionavoidance,aswellas
autonomousnavigationine.g.harbourareas.[Skolnik,2008],[Seliga,2010]
LIghtDetectionAndRanging,LIDAR(orLAserDetectionAndRanging,LADAR)isascanninglaser
sensortechnology,whichcanprovideveryaccuratedistancemeasurements.Multichanneldevices
(e.g.witha64laserarray),suchasthoseusedinGoogle’sautonomoustestcars,cancreateavery
detailed3Dmapofthesurroundingsofthevehicle.LIDAR-basedmarinenavigationhasbeen
proposedanddemonstratede.g.in[Jimenez,2009],[Pastore,2010]and[Halterman,2010].
Figure5.Left:radarviewofobject.Right:3DLIDARscanningdata
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
OnepossibledisadvantageofLIDARisthatitusesrapidlymovingmechanicalcomponentsforthe
scanningoperation,whichcouldbepronetomalfunctions,especiallyoverlongerperiodsoftimeina
harshmarineenvironment.BecauseLIDARemploysalaserbeam(typicallyapulsedIRlaser),its
rangeandaccuracyisalsoaffectedbyadverseweather,suchasheavyfog,rainandsnow,similarlyto
IRcameras.
2.2.Sensordatafusionandprocessing
Inpracticallyallfieldsofvehicleautonomy,utilisationsensorfusionhasbeenseenasthekeyfor
achievingsufficientsituationalawarenessreliability.Eachseparatesensortypeexhibitsparticular
weaknessesandlimitationsundersomeconditions(weather)ordetectionsetups(range,fieldofview,
identification).Also,bothfalsepositiveandfalsenegativedetectionscanneverbecompletely
preventedforasinglesensor;optimisingoneleadstoatradeoffagainsttheother.Bycombiningthe
capabilitiesofmultiplesensormodalities,individualerrorsandweaknessescanbeaveragedoutand
betteroverallperformancecanbereached.Table1roughlycomparesdifferentpotentialsensortypes
intermsofperformanceaspectsrelevanttomarineSA.
Table1.ComparisonofdifferentmarineSAsensors.
VisualHD
cameras
IRcameras Shipradar
Short-range
LIDAR
radar
Sound
++
+
--
-
++
--
Fieldofview
+
-
++
-
+
++
Distance
measurement
Object
identification
24H,allweather
operation
Computational
loadofanalysis
Marine
robustness
-
-
++
++
++
--
++
+
--
--
+
+
--
+
++
++
+(?)
-(?)
--
-
++
++
--
+
++
++
++
+(?)
(?)
(?)
++
-
+-
++
--
+
SpatialAccuracy
Price
Basedonthereviewofexistingsolutionsreportedinvariousfieldsofautonomyandthetestingof
sensortechnologiesalreadydoneinAAWA,thefusionofdifferenttypesofradarsandvisualsensors,
includingthermalIRcamerasisseenasafeasiblesolutionformarinesituationalawareness.Radars
enableeasytrackingoftargetdistanceandcanprovidetherequiredtolerancetobadweather.The
applicationofnewhigh-GHzradarsdevelopedforautomotivecollisionavoidancecanalsoprovide
sufficientobjectdetectionaccuracyforrangeswhicharetooshortandtooinaccurateforconventional
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
shipradar.Camerascanaugmentradardatabyprovidingmoredetailedinformationondetected
objects.Furthermore,thefusionofcamerasandradarcanalsoincreasedetectionrobustness.Thermal
IRcamerascanseeobjectsalsointotaldarkness,whilecolourinformationfromnormalHDcameras
canbeusedforsegmentingobjectsinthewater.Asignificantconsiderationisalsotheaffordabilityof
thesensorysystem.Whilemanyhigh-endsensordevicescouldprovideavaluableadditiontotheSAsystem,asolutionwhichtakesadvantageofaffordabletechnologyshouldbepreferred.Inthissense,
thecombinationofradarandimaginghasanadvantageovere.g.LIDARsensors.
Soundsignalling(e.g.byhorns)isalsoanintegralpartofthecurrentmaritimenavigationprocess.
Therefore,inordertorealiseaSAsystemwhichisatleastascapableasahumancrew,soundcapture
anddataanalysisshouldalsobeincluded.Whileloudandclearsoundssuchase.g.hornsandwhistles
couldbefairlyeasilydetected,theirsourcesshouldalsobeaccuratelylocalisedrelativetotheship,to
helpreactivecollisionavoidance.Thisrequiresmorethanjustcaptureanddetectionofsound,the
soundsourcealsohastobespatiallylocalised,e.g.viaanarrayofmicrophones,andthesounddata
fusedwithothersensormodalities.Soundsensorscouldalsobeappliedinamoregeneralmannerin
theSAsystem,fordetectingandidentifyingothervesselsbythesoundsthattheynormallyemit.
Sensordataprocessing
Themostcomputationallyintensivepartofasensorfusionpipelineistheanalysisofdataprovidedby
cameras.Theoutputcreatedbyradarsisverysparse(objectswithsomenoise)andthereforemuch
easiertoprocess.Animportantpartofimagedataprocessing,isthesegmentationoftheinputdata.
Highresolutionvideocamerasprovidemassiveamountsofdata,mostofwhichisirrelevantforthe
processofobjectdetectionandimagecontentunderstanding.Thefirststepinanimageanalysis
processisthereforetosegmenttherawinputdata,i.e.toremoveallinformationwhichisnotrelevant
totheparticulartask(background)fromthosefeaturesandobjectswhichshouldbedetected
(foreground).Onthereducedamountofimagedata,morecomplexanalysisalgorithmscanthenbe
appliedforspatialandtemporalobjecttrackingandobjectclassification.Forexample,amarinescene
canbeassumedtoalwaysconsistofthreedifferentcoarseregions:waterinthebottompartofthe
image,skyinthetoppartandahorizonareainthemiddle.Byfindingthehorizonline,alargepartof
theimagedatacanbediscardedfromfurtherprocessing.Sensorfusioncanbeusedtomakethe
processeasierbyusingcluesfromothersensormodalitiestohelptheimageprocessingpipeline.For
example,thedetection(orlackthereof)ofobjectsintheviewofaradarcanbeusedtoguidetheimage
segmentationalgorithmtofocusmoreonpotentialobjectareasandfalsedetectionsfromimagedata
canbediscardedifsuitableconfidencebasedonradardataisavailable.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Figure6.Horizondetectionandobjectsegmentation.
Datafrommultiplesensorscanbefusedindifferentways,asillustratedinFigure7.Low-levelfusionis
performedontherawornearlyunprocesseddatafromdifferentsensors,whileinhigh-levelfusion,
theseparatedatastreamsareprocessedindividuallyandthedetectionsfromdifferentsensorsare
combinedonobjectlevel.Theuseoflow-levelfusionismorenaturalbetweentwodifferentcamera
types,suchasvisualandthermalsensors,whilethefusionbetweencamerasandradarcanbemore
naturallyimplementedonahigherobjectlevel.Inpractice,themostefficientwaytoimplementsensor
fusionbetweenmultiple(>2)differentsensormodalitiesisprobablyacombinationofbothlow-level
andhigh-levelfusionapproaches.
Inamarinesensorfusionprocess,radarcanbeusedtoprovidebearinganglesanddistancesfor
variousobjectsinthescene.Thisinformationcanthenbemappedtocorrespondingobjects
segmentedfrommultiplecameradata,toextractmoredetails.Thepresenceofthesameobjectin
multiplesensordataprovidesamorerobustdetectionthanasinglesensorsource,whichcanalways
providenoisyorincompletedata.Frame-to-frameanalysisresultsoftencontaintemporalnoise,with
objectsbeingsometimeslostduetoanalysisuncertainty.Spatialandtemporalobjecttrackingcanbe
appliedtoprovideacontinuoussituationalawarenessforreactivecollisionavoidance.
Inordertoreachbestpossibleautonomousnavigationreliability,allotheravailabledatasources
whichcanhelptheshipnavigationandcollisionavoidanceprocessshouldalsobefusedwithonboard
sensordata.TheseincludealreadycommonlyusedtechnologiessuchasGPS,AIS,ARPAandECDIS,the
outputsofwhichcanbefusedwiththeextractedsensordataviahigh-levellocalandglobalmap
representations.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
3.
Off-shipcommunication
Thecapabilityforremotehumaninteractionandcontrolhastobeenabledforsituations,whichthe
shipautonomycannotresolveorisnotallowedtohandlebyitself.RelayingtheSAinformation
gatheredbytheship’ssensorstoaremoteoperatormayrequirethetransferofsignificantamountsof
data.Duetopracticallimitationsone.g.satellitecommunicationsatopensea,thesameamountof
bandwidthmaynotbeavailableatalltimes.Methodsforreducingtheamountofsensordataonlyto
whatisabsolutelyneededforthehumanoperatortoperceivetheenvironmentoftheshipneedstobe
considered.Alsoissuessuchasdatasecurity(intentionaltampering)andlinkreliabilityshouldbe
addressedandthepossibilitiesofusingmultiplealternativecommunicationnetworks(satellite,VHF,
4G)dependingonavailabilityandperformanceneedsshouldbeexamined.
TransmissionofHDvideofromtheshiptotheshorecontrolcentreisnotrequiredallthetime.Itmay
berequiredonlywhensomethingunexpectedthatrequirestheattentionoftheshorecontrolcentre
happens.Suchasituationcouldbeforexampledetectinganobstaclewhichrequireshuman
identification,orasituationinwhichtheshipisunabletocalculateareliableavoidancemanoeuvre.It
isassumedthatformostofthetimeintheopenseas,theautonomouscontrolsystemisabletohandle
thesituationwiththehelpofthesensorysystemsonboard(collisionavoidance,objectdetectionetc.).
Thus,mostofthetime,veryminimalamountofoutbounddata,suchasshipstateinformationand
reducedsensordataisrequired.Ontheotherhand,sufficientlyhightransmissioncapacityshouldbe
availablewhenneededonshortnotice.
Theamountofdatatobetransmittedgrowsquicklyasmoresensorsareaddedtothesystem,
especiallywithhighresolutionvideo.Reductionoftheframe-rate,lowerimageresolutionandefficient
videocompressionhavetraditionallybeenappliedforremotemonitoringoverlow-bandwidth
datalinks.However,toevenfurtherreducedatatransferrequirements,thesensorinputscanbe
segmentedwiththeonboardSAprocessingsystemtoextractonlytheminimalamountofdata,which
canstillbesufficientforhumanunderstandingofthescene.Foreground/backgroundsegmentation
performedbytheship’sSA-system,enablestransmissionofonlycertainrelevantfeatures,objectsor
regionsofinterest(ROI),asillustratedinFigure8.Ahumanoperatorcould,atleastinnon-critical
conditions,extractsufficientsituationalawarenessfromverysparsesegmentedimagefeatures,which
canrequirethetransferofverylittledata.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Figure7:
Imagesegmentationforreducingdatarates.Top-left:Original(1900x1080px)withsegmentedobjects.Top-right:
1-bitedgedata.Bottom-left:1-bitobjectdata.Bottom-right:Regionofinterestcaptureofobjectarea(241x145
px).
Ontheopensea,themainmeansofcommunicationisviasatellite,however,satellitecommunication
canbedisturbedbyweatherconditions.Theamountofattenuationcausedbye.g.heavyrainis
dependentonthefrequencybandemployedbythesatellitenetwork.Forexample,fadingismuch
moresevereatKa-bands(above20GHz)thanattheL-band(1to2GHz)[Qingling,2006].Thismeans
thatsevereweathermaydegradetheperformanceoflinksoperatingatKa-bands.However,
combiningaKa-bandsystemwithe.g.alessweathersensitiveL-bandnetwork,ashasbeendonein
theInmarsatGlobalXpresssystem,reducestheriskoflosingallcommunicationseveniftheKa-band
systemwouldbenon-operational.TheInmarsatsystemallowsdynamicswitchingbetweenthetwo
satellitetypeswithoutusereffort.However,thelowercapacityofferedbytheL-bandsatelliteshasto
betakenintoaccountwhenallocatingbandwidthtooff-shipcommunication.
Inthefuture,theremaybealargenumberofautonomousvesselsinthesamesatellitebeamor
cellularnetworkcellarea.Asthetotalbandwidthwithinacertainbeamorcellareaissharedbetween
allusers,ashortageofbandwidthmaybecreatedifmanyvesselssimultaneouslyrequirehigh
bandwidth,forexampleforHDvideotransmission.Thisproblemcouldbeleveragedbyforming
swarmsorfleetsofvesselswhereoneshipwouldbetheleader.Inthisway,communicationtoashore
controlcentrecouldbecoordinatedviatheleadshipwithlineofsightship-to-shipcommunication.In
thiswayitcouldbepossibletooptimisetheuseofsatellitebandwidthinacertainareabyreducing
theneedforalltheshipsintheswarmtocommunicatewiththeshorecontrolcentresimultaneously.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Possibleeffectsofweatherormulti-usercongestiononcommunicationperformanceshouldbe
consideredcarefullywhenimplementingthecontroland“intelligence”ofthewholeautonomysystem
throughthe“VirtualCaptain”.Difficultsituationsmayariseifpoorweathersimultaneouslycauses
reductionofSA-systemcapability,requiringmoreshorecontrolinterventionordecisionmaking,and
areductionindatalinkcapabilityrequiredtotransfersensordatafromtheship.Correctbehaviours
andprecautionsforsuchsituationsshouldbedefined.TheseissuesareaddressedintheANS
architecturedevelopmentinAAWA,throughtheVirtualCaptainandtheshipstatedefinitiondiscussed
earlier.
Referencesintext
1. [Beier,2004]K.Beier,H.Gemperlein:“Simulationofinfrareddetectionrangeatfogconditions
forEnhancedVisionSystemsincivilaviation”,AerospaceScienceandTechnology8,pp.63–71,
Elsevier,2004.
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reviewsinControl,2012.
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OCEANS2009-EUROPE,vol.,no.,pp.1-8,11-14May2009
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RoboticsandAutomation,vol.3,pp.249-265,1987.
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ofFieldRobotics27(6),pp.790-818,2010.DOI:10.1002/rob.20367
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reactiveanddeliberativecollisionavoidanceandescapearchitectureforautonomousrobots.“
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“MakingBerthaSee”,Proc.ofthe2013IEEEInternationalConferenceonComputerVision
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(http://spectrum.ieee.org/),18Oct2011.
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10. [Halterman,2010]R.Halterman,M.Bruch:“VelodyneHDL64ELIDARforUnmannedSurface
VehicleObstacleDetection”,SPIEProc.7692:UnmannedSystemsTechnologyXII,Orlando,FL,
April2010.
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12. [Herpel,2008]T.Herpel,C.Lauer,R.German,J.Salzberger:“Trade-OffbetweenCoverageand
RobustnessofAutomotiveEnvironmentSensorSystems”,Proc.ofInternationalConferenceon
IntelligentSensors,ISSNIP2008,pp.551-556,2008.
13. [Jimenez,2009]A.R.Jimenez,F.Seco:“AShort-RangeShipNavigationSystemBasedonLadar
ImagingandTargetTrackingforImprovedSafetyandEfficiency”,IEEETransactionson
IntelligentTransportationSystems,Vol.10,No.1,pp.186-197,2009.
14. [Lalish,2012]E.Lalish,K.A.Morgansen,K.A.(2012).“Distributedreactivecollision
avoidance“,AutonomousRobots,32(3),207-226.2012.
15. [Mooney]D.Mooney,“MetricPathPlanning”,
http://www.eecs.ucf.edu/~gitars/cap6671/Papers/metric_planning.pdf
16. [Mukhtar,2015]A.Mukhtar,L.Xia,T.B.Tang:“VehicleDetectionTechniquesforCollision
AvoidanceSystems:AReview”,IEEETransactionsonIntelligentTransportationSystems,Vol.
6,Issue5,pp.2318–2338,2015.
17. [Pastore,2010]T.J.Pastore,A.N.Patrikalakis:“LaserScannersforAutonomousSurfaceVessels
inHarborProtection:AnalysisandExperimentalResults”,Proc.ofthe2010International
WatersideSecurityConference,pp.1-6,2010.
18. [Pietrzykowski,2009]Z.Pietrzykowski,Z.,&Uriasz,J.(2009).Theshipdomain-acriterionof
navigationalsafetyassessmentinanopenseaarea.JournalofNavigation,62(1),93.2009.
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SymposiumonAntennas,Propagation&EMTheory,ISAPE'06,pp.1-4,2006.
20. [Seliga,2010]T.A.Seliga,(2010,March),“HighResolutionW-BandRadarDetectionand
CharacterisationofAircraftWakeVorticesinPrecipitation“,InWakeNet3-Europe/Greenwake
dedicatedworkshopon”Wakevortex&windmonitoringsensorsinallweatherconditions.
2010.
21. [Sharma,2012]R.Sharma,J.B.Saunders,R.W.Beard,(2012),“Reactivepathplanningfor
microairvehiclesusingbearing-onlymeasurements“,JournalofIntelligent&RoboticSystems,
65(1-4),409-416.2012.
22. [Sinisterra,2014]Sinisterra,A.J.;Dhanak,M.R.;vonEllenrieder,K.,"Stereovision-basedtarget
trackingsystemforanUSV,"inOceans-St.John's,2014,vol.,no.,pp.1-7,14-19Sept.2014
23. [Skolnik,2008]MerillSkolnik“RadarHandbook”(3rdedition),McGraw-HillEducation;3
edition(February12,2008),ISBN-13:978-0071485470.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
24. [Stark,2015]B.Stark,M.McGee,Y.Chen:“ShortWaveInfrared(SWIR)ImagingSystemsUsing
SmallUnmannedAerialSystems(sUAS)”,Proc.ofthe2015InternationalConferenceon
UnmannedAircraftSystems(ICUAS),pp.495-501,2015.
25. [Statheros,2008]T.Statheros,G.Howells,K.M.Maier."Autonomousshipcollisionavoidance
navigationconcepts,technologiesandtechniques."Journalofnavigation61.01(2008):129142.
26. [Tam,2009]C.K.Tam,R.Bucknall,A.Greig,“ReviewofCollisionAvoidanceandPathPlanning
MethodsforShipsinCloseRangeEncounters“,JournalofNavigation/Volume62/Issue03/
July2009,pp455-476Copyright©TheRoyalInstituteofNavigation2009
27. [Wallace,2013]J.Wallace:“IRIMAGING:SWIRcamerasspotunwantedactivitiesthroughfog
andatnight”,LaserFocusWorld(online),Vol.49,Issue10,2013
http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-49/issue-10/world-news/irimaging-swir-cameras-spot-unwanted-activities-through-fog-and-at-night.html
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Legalities
HenrikRingbom,AdjunctProfessorinMaritimeLawandtheLawoftheSea
DepartmentofLaw,ÅboAkademiUniversity
FelixCollin,ProjectResearcher,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofTurku
MikaViljanen,ActingProfessorofCivilLaw,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofTurku
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
LegalImplicationsofremoteandautonomousshipping
1.
Introduction
Maritimelawisafunctionaltermusedfordescribingawholerangeoflawsandotherlegalsources
thatgovernthelegalframeworkrelatedtoshipsandtheiroperation.Itincludesavarietyofdifferent
legalsystems,rangingfrominternationallawtoregionalandnationalrulesanddowntolocalrules.It
coversissuesofpublicconcerns,suchassafety,securityandenvironmentalprotectionaswellascivil
lawmatters,suchascontractsofcarriage,liabilityandcompensationfordamage,salvageandrules
relatedtomarinerisksandinsurance,tonamebutafew.
Theprospectofunmannedshipsaddressesaveryfundamentalfeatureinshipping–theroleofthe
masterandcrewonboardaship–andwillhenceaffectamultitudeoflawsandregulationacrossthe
wholerangeofmaritimelaw.Anefforttosummarisethedifferentlevelsandtypesofrulesconcerned
ismadeinthetableintheannex.
Thefocusofthispaperisontheinternational(global)rules.Threemainkindsofsuchrulesneedtobe
distinguished.First,therearejurisdictionalrules,whichlaydownstates’rightsandobligationstotake
measureswithrespecttoships.Thesearemainlylaiddowninthe1982UNConventionontheLawof
theSea(UNCLOS),whichisdiscussedinsection2.Second,thetechnicalrulescoveringsafety,
environmentandtrainingandwatchkeepingstandardsetc.arediscussedinsection3.Theyareusually
adoptedbyspecialisedUNagencies,suchasnotablytheInternationalMaritimeOrganization(IMO).
Third,aseriesofinternationalruleshavebeenestablishedinthefieldofprivatelawtoharmonise
issuessuchasshipowners’civilliabilityforpollution,collisionsorcargo-relatedlossesandhowsuch
claimsmaybeenforced.Theserulesarenotascompleteorwidelyratifiedasthepubliclaw
conventionsdiscussedinsections2and3andmaythereforebesubjecttogreaternationalvariation.
Themainrelationshipsoftheserulestoautonomousshippingarediscussedinsection4.
2.LawoftheSea
2.1General
Thelawoftheseadealswiththerightsandobligationsofstatesovertheseas.Asfarasshippingis
concerned,thekeyissuesaddressedbythisbodyoflawinclude:towhatextentcanshipsnavigatein
differentseaareas;whatobligationsdostateshaveovershipsflyingtheirflag;andwhatrightsdo
otherstateshavetointerfereinthenavigationofshipsindifferentseaareas?
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Today’slawoftheseagoverningnavigationismorestablethaneverbeforeinhistory.The
‘ConstitutionfortheOceans’,UNCLOSenjoysawidespreadformalacceptanceworldwide(167
contractingparties)anditsprovisionsconcerningnavigationalrightsanddutiesarewidelyaccepted
asrepresentingcustomarylaw(andhenceapplytonon-partiesaswell).Theconventionlaysdownthe
rulesonestablishmentanddelimitationofmaritimezonesandincludesdetailedrulesonstates’rights
andobligations,differentlyforeachzone.
Afirst–andfundamental–questiontoberesolvediswhethershipswithoutacrewonboardare
‘ships’or‘vessels’withinthemeaningoftheconventionatall.Thetwotermsareusedinterchangeably
inUNCLOS,butneitherisdefined.Itdoes,however,followfromthenatureoftheactivitiescarriedout
bythelarge,self-propelled,cargo-carrying,commercially-operatedunmannedshipsofinteresthere
thattheyprobablywillhavetoberegardedasvessels/shipsbyvirtueoftheirsize,featuresand
functions.Existinginternationalconventionsthatdefinethetermshipdonotincludereferencesto
crewingandatnationallevel,too,thedefinitionofashipisusuallydisconnectedfromthequestionof
whetherornottheshipismanned.1Itwouldalsoseemunjustifiedthattwoships,onemannedandthe
otherunmanned,doingsimilartasksinvolvingsimilardangerswouldnotbesubjecttothesamerules
thathavebeendesignedtoaddressthosedangers.
Fromtheassumptionthatunmannedshipsare‘ships’and’vessels’withinthemeaningofUNCLOS
followsthattheyaresubjecttothesamerulesofthelawoftheseaasanyordinarilycrewedship.The
sameobligationsapplytounmannedshipsandtheirflagstateswithrespecttocompliancewith
internationalrules.Ontheotherhand,theyalsoenjoythesamepassagerightsasothershipsand
cannotberefusedaccesstootherstates’watersmerelybecausetheyarenotcrewed.
2.2FlagStateJurisdiction
Flagstatejurisdictionrepresentsthetraditionalcornerstoneoftheregulatoryauthorityoverships.
UNCLOSestablishesthatallstateshavearighttosailshipsflyingtheirflagandtofixtheconditionsfor
grantingnationalitytoships(Articles90and91(1)).However,theconventionalsoincludesanumber
ofdetaileddutiesforflagstates.
Everystatehastheobligationto“effectivelyexerciseitsjurisdictionandcontrolinadministrative,
1
Study ’Liability for Operations in Unmanned Maritime Vehicles with Differing Levels of Autonomy’, performed by the
University of Southampton on behalf of the European Defence Agency’s Group on Safety and Regulation of Unmanned
Maritime Systems (SARUMS), , 2016, Part 1, Chapter 3 (unpublished).
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
technicalandsocialmattersovershipsflyingitsflag”(Article94(1)),includingto“assumejurisdiction
underitsinternallawovereachshipflyingitsflaganditsmaster,officersandcrewinrespectof
administrative,technicalandsocialmattersconcerningtheship”(Article94(2)(b)).Theflagstateshall
also“takesuchmeasures…asarenecessarytoensuresafetyatseawithregard,interalia,to…the
manningofships,labourconditionsandthetrainingofcrews,takingintoaccounttheapplicable
internationalinstruments”(Article94(3)(b)),includingmeasuresnecessarytoensure“thateachship
isinthechargeofamasterandofficerswhopossessappropriatequalifications,inparticularin
seamanship,navigation,communicationsandmarineengineering,andthatthecrewisappropriatein
qualificationandnumbersforthetype,size,machineryandequipmentoftheship”(Article94(4)(b)).
Whenadoptingthesemeasureseachflagstateisrequired“toconformtogenerallyaccepted
internationalregulations,proceduresandpracticesandtotakeanystepswhichmaybenecessaryto
securetheirobservance”(Article94(5)).
UNCLOS,inotherwords,avoidstheneedtoformulatemorepreciseobligationsofflagstatesby
referringtoanabstract,andcontinuouslychanging,setofinternationalrulestobedeveloped
elsewhere.Inthiswayitavoids‘freezing’therequirementsatagivenpointintimeoratagiven
technicallevel,whilestillpreservingtheinternationalcharacteroftherulesinquestion.Themore
preciseextentofflagstates’obligationsishencelefttobedevelopedbytheIMOinparticular.
2.3PortandCoastalStateJurisdiction
Whiletheflagstate’sjurisdictionappliesirrespectiveoftheship’slocation,otherstates’parallel
jurisdictionoverthesameshipdependsonthemaritimezoneconcerned.Thecoastalstate’sauthority
overaforeignshipincreaseswiththeproximityoftheshiptoitsshores.
Iftheshipisvoluntarilypresentinoneofitsportsorinternalwaters,thecoastal/portstatehas
broadjurisdictionoverforeignships.Internalwatersformpartofthesovereigntyofthestate(Article
2)andintheabsenceofspecificlimitations,thejurisdictionoverforeignshipsinthisareaistherefore
complete.Moreover,shipshavenogeneralrighttoaccessforeignportsandtheportstate’swide
discretiontoplaceentryconditionsforforeignshipsiswidelyacknowledged,includinginUNCLOS
Articles25(2),211(3)and255.Inotherwords,aportstatemay(unlessithasacceptedspecific
obligationstothecontrary)refuseunmannedshipsaccesstoitsportsorinternalwaters,provided
thattherefusalcomplieswithcertainmoregeneralreasonablenesscriteriathatexistingeneral
internationallaw,suchasnon-discrimination,proportionalitybetweenthemeasureanditsobjective
andthattheprohibitiondoesnotconstituteanabuseofright(Article300).Thismayturnouttobea
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
significantlimitationofthefreeofmovementofunmannedships,butthepotentiallimitationisbyno
meansuniquetounmannedships.
Withrespecttoshipspassingthroughitsterritorialsea(whichmayextendupto12nauticalmiles
fromthecoastline/baseline),therightsofcoastalstatesaremorelimited.Underalongstanding
principleofthelawofthesea,allshipsenjoyarightof‘innocentpassage’throughotherstates’
territorialseas.Passageisdeemedtobeinnocentaslongasitisnot“prejudicialtothepeace,good
orderorsecurityofthecoastalstate”(Article19(1)).Alistofactivitiesthatmeetthosecriteriaisgiven
inArticle19(2),butasthelistfocusesonships’activities(suchasuseorthreatofforce,military
activities,fishingactivitiesorwilfulandseriouspollution)questionsrelatedtoaship’smanningwill
notassuchrenderpassagenon-innocentunderthewordingofUNCLOS.
Regardingthecoastalstate’slegislativejurisdiction,Article21(2)providesthatastatemaynotimpose
itsnationalrequirementsontheconstruction,design,equipmentormanningofforeignshipsinits
territorialsea,unlessthoserequirementsaregivingeffectto“generallyacceptedinternationalrules
andstandards”(Article21(2)).Independentlyofwhatlawsthecoastalstatehasadopted,itmaynot
“imposerequirementsonforeignshipswhichhavethepracticaleffectofdenyingorimpairingthe
rightofinnocentpassage”(Article24(1)(b).Therightofinnocentpassageextendstoshipsthatare
deemedtoposeaparticularriskforthecoastalstate,suchasnuclear-poweredshipsandships
carryingnuclearorotherinherentlydangerousornoxioussubstances(Article23).
Theareasofacoastalstate’sterritorialseawhichformspartofa‘straitusedforinternational
navigation’aresubjecttoevenmorelimitationsforcoastalstates(andcorrespondinglystronger
passagerightsforships).Therearedifferentkindsofsuchstraits,butmanyofthemostimportant
straitsthatarecompletelycoveredbytheborderingstraits’territorialseas,suchastheStraitsof
DoverandMalacca,aresubjecttotheregimeof‘transitpassage’,whereships’rightof(continuousand
expeditious)passagearegrantedandmaynotevenbetemporarilysuspendedbytheborderingstates
(Articles37-44).Manyotherimportantstraits,includingtheDanishandtheTurkishStraits,are
governedbylong-standinginternationalconventionswhichguaranteethenavigationalrightsof
foreignships(Article35(c)).
Thejurisdictiontoprescribenationalrequirementsisobviouslyevenmorelimitedwithrespectto
shipssailingintheexclusiveeconom iczone(EEZ),whichmayextendbeyondtheterritorialsea,
uptoamaximumof200nmfromthecoastline/baseline.Inthiszonefreedomofnavigation(forall
states)applies,subjecttohavingdueregardtotheinterestofotherstates(Article58).Themostexpress
prescriptivejurisdictionofcoastalstatesoverforeignshipsintheEEZconcernslawsaimingatthe
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
protectionofthemarineenvironmentandevenhere,coastalstates’jurisdictionislimitedto
prescribingrulesthatgiveeffecttointernationalruleswhileenforcementmeasuresexclude
interferinginthepassage,saveforthemostseriouscasesofpollutionanddamage(Articled211(5)
and220).
Inseaareasthatliebeyondthejurisdictionofanycoastalstate,thehighseas,thestartingpointis
thattheflagstatealonehasjurisdictionovertheship.Anumberofexemptionstothismainruleexist,
butnoneofthemisrelevantforthequestionofnavigationalrightsofunmannedships.
2.4OtherrelevantprovisionsinUNCLOS
Apartfromthejurisdictionalprovisions,certainotherUNCLOSprovisionsmayturnouttobe
problematicforunmannedships.TheobligationsetoutinArticle94(4)(b)thateachshipneedsto
havea(properlyqualified)masterandacrewwasalreadymentionedabove.Whilethisrequirement
mayarguablybemetincaseofremotelyoperatedshipsitislessobvioushowafullyautomatedship
wouldqualify.Sinceunmannedshippingoperationswilloftenrepresentamixbetweendifferent
degreesofautomation,dependingonseaareas,trafficdensityetc.furtherclarificationsofthis
obligationmaybeneeded,atleastatthelevelofthe‘generallyacceptedinternationalrules’.
AnotherUNCLOSprovision,whichpresumesacrewonboardistheobligationofthemastertorender
assistancetopersonsindangerordistressaccordingtoArticle98(1)(asspecifiedinSOLAS
RegulationV/33).Thecommunicationpartofthedutycanpresumablybemetbyremotelyoperated
shipswithrelayedradiocommunications,butitislessclearhowphysicalassistancecanberendered
byashipwithoutacrewonboard.Thedutiesincludequalificationsbyreferenceto“insofarashecan
dosowithoutseriousdangertotheship”or“insofarassuchactioncanbereasonablyexpectedof
him”whichwillprobablyreducetheextentobligationsforunmannedships,astheavailableoptions
willbefewer.However,theabsenceofacrewdoesnotinitselfdoawaywiththedutytoprovide
assistancetotheextentnecessaryandreasonable.
3.Technicalrequirements
3.1General
IMOalonehasadoptedmorethan50internationalconventionsandprotocolsaimedatharmonising
rulesforinternationalshipping.Mostoftheserulesarelaiddownintheformofobligationsimposed
onships’flagstateadministrations.Itisprimarilyfortheindividualstatespartiestotheconventions
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ensurethateachshipflyingtheirflagisboundbyandcomplieswiththerules.Acertificatewhereby
theadministrationconfirmscomplianceisoftenrequiredandthiscertificateshallbeacceptedby
otherstatesasifitwereissuedbythemselves.Inaddition,theIMOrulesfrequentlyincludea
possibilityforportstatestoverifythatshipsthatenterintotheirportsinrealitycomplywiththe
requirementsand–ifnot–totakecorrectivemeasures,includingdetainingtheshipifnecessary.
SinceitisnotpossibletocoverallIMOconventionshere,aselectionofthemostimportant
instrumentswithimplicationsforcrewshasbeenmadehere.Theselectedconventions(SOLAS,
MARPOL,STCWandCOLREGs)areallwidelyratifiedamongtheworld’s(flag)statesandhence
applicableworldwide.TheMaritimeLabourConvention(MLC),whichwasdevelopedbythe
InternationalLabourOrganisation(ILO)in2006,hasalreadybeenratifiedbymorethan70states.
3.2TheInternationalConventionfortheSafetyofLifeatSea(SOLAS)
ThemainconventionformaritimesafetyistheSOLASConvention,adoptedinitsfirstversionalready
in1914.Theconventioncoversaverywiderangeofmatters,itsannexcontainingthesubstantive
rulesconsistsoffourteendifferentchapters.SomeoftherulesofSOLASareonlyapplicabletoshipsof
aspecifictypeoragewhiletheapplicabilityofothersdependsonthetradingarea.Thefocushereison
rulesapplicabletoanewbulkcarrierabove500gtincommercialuseininternationaltrade,witha
particularemphasisontherulesthatmayturnouttobechallengingforashipwithoutacrewon
board.Thebrief–andincomplete–reviewthusfocusesonoperationalandfunctionalrequirements
thatexplicitlyorimplicitlypresupposethepresenceofcrewmembers.
ChapterIestablishesthegeneralapplicationoftheregulationsintheAnnexandanexemptions
scheme,whichisbasedonthreedifferentcategoriesofexemptions:
1. CertaincategoriesofshipsthatarecompletelyexceptedfromtheSOLASrulesandhence
beyonditsscopearelistedinRegulation3.However,noneofthelistedcategoriesarerelevant
forpresentpurposes.
2. Regulation4(b)includesapossibilityforflagstateadministrationtoexempt“anyshipwhich
embodiesfeaturesofanovelkind”fromtherequirementsofChaptersII-1,II-2,IIIandIVif
theirapplication“mightseriouslyimpederesearchintothedevelopmentofsuchfeatures.Such
exemptionshallbecommunicatedtoIMOanddonotrelievetheshipfromtheobligationto
complywithsafetyrequirementsthatintheopinionoftheadministrationareadequateforthe
serviceandacceptabletothe(port)statestobevisitedbytheship.
3. Administrationshaveamoregeneralpossibilitytoacceptequivalentsolutionsiftheyare
satisfiedthattheequivalentisatleastaseffectiveasthatrequiredbytheConvention.More
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specifically,thispossibilityapplieswhereSOLASrequires“thataparticularfitting,material,
applianceorapparatus,ortypethereof,shallbefittedorcarriedinaship,orthatany
particularprovisionshallbemade”.Inthesecasestheadministrationmayallowother
solutions“ifitissatisfiedbytrialthereoforotherwisethatsuchfitting,material,applianceor
apparatus,ortypethereof,orprovision,isatleastaseffectiveasthatrequiredbythepresent
regulations.”SuchequivalentsshallbecommunicatedtoIMOtogetherwithareportofany
trialsmade.
ChaptersII-1,II-2andIIIcontainrequirementsforshipsintheareasofstructure,stability,machinery
andelectricalinstallations(ChapterII-1),fireprotection(ChapterII-2)andlife-savingappliances
(ChapterIII).Thesechaptersmainlycoverconstruction,equipmentandmaterialsonboard,which
doesnotraiseparticularissuesfromtheperspectiveofautomatedoperations.Ashipthathastobe
constructedtomeetcertainstabilityrequirementsorfeaturessuchasdoublebottomswillobviously
havetodosoeveniftheshipisunmanned,andtheunmannedconditiondoesnotcallforadditional
requirementsinthisregard.
However,theyallincludesomedegreeofoperationalrequirements,relatingtoinformation
proceduresandcommunicationforthecrew,alarms,monitoringmechanismsetc.,whichare
obviouslydifficulttoapplyonacompletelyunmannedships.Insomecasesalarms,monitoring
equipmentandsystemoperationmayhavetobeshiftedoraddedtotheplacewherethecontrolleris
located,asotherwisethewholepurposeoftherequirementwouldbedefeated.Similarly,term
‘navigatingbridge’,whichfeaturesfrequentlyintherulesrelatingtosteeringgear,indicatorsand
varioustypesofengineandfirealarms,needtobeunderstoodasreferringtotheplacefromwhichthe
shipiscontrolled,iftherulesaretoretaintheirmeaningforremotelycontrolledships.Manyofthe
provisionsspecificallyaddressthepossibilitytoreplaceofhumanmonitoringbytechnicalequipment,
suchasunmannedmachineryspaces.
Forthesechapters,thepossibilityforexemptionsandalternativedesignsislikelytoplayanimportant
roleinfacilitatingcomplianceforunmannedships,2whichpresupposesthattheship’sflagstate
administrationisfavourabletoacceptingsuchexemptions.
TherequirementsconcerningradiocommunicationsinChapterIVincludefunctionalrequirements
ontheequipmentaswellaswatch-keepingrequirementsforthecrew.Thebasicfunctional
2
In addition to the exemptions provided for in Chapter I, the flag state administration may also under these three chapters
exempt individual ships or classes of ships which do not proceed more than 20 nautical miles from the nearest land from the
requirements “if it considers that the sheltered nature and conditions of the voyage are such as to render the application of
any specific requirements … unreasonable or unnecessary” (Regulations II-1/1.4, II-2/4.1 and III/2.1).
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requirementsarethatashipatseashallbecapableoftransmittingadistressalertbyatleasttwo
separateindependentmeans,receivingdistressalerts,communicating(transmittingandreceiving)in
distresssituations(searchandrescue),maritimesafetyinformation,generalradiocommunicationand
bridge-to-bridgecommunication.Whileatsea,everyshipshallmaintainacontinuouswatchona
numberoffrequenciesasprovidedfor.Therulesincludelimitedpossibilitiesforexemptionsand
alternativedesigns.Compliancewiththeserulesbyunmannedshipspresupposesthatradio
communicationcanberelayedtoaplacewhereacontrollerwithfullknowledgeoftheship’s
whereaboutsisoncall.
ChapterVcomprisesaverywiderangeofdifferentregulations,someofwhichmaybequite
challengingtoimplementforunmannedships,suchastherulesonmanningofships(Reg.14),voyage
planning(Reg.34),bridgevisibilityrequirements(Reg.22)orpilottransferarrangements(Reg.23).
Thechapteralsoincludesageneralobligationformasterstoproceedtotheassistanceofthosein
distress(Reg.33)andhighlightsthemaster’sdiscretionindecision-makingrelatingtosafetyofseaor
environmentalprotection,nottoberestrictedbytheowner,chartereroroperatingcompany(Reg.341).ManyoftherulesofChapterVhavewiderapplicability,intermsofthesizeofshipsandtrading
areas,thantheotherSOLASchapters.Thescopeforexemptionsandequivalencesvariesfromone
regulationtoanother,butisingeneraltermsmorelimitedthangenerallyinSOLAS.
Therulesonm anningofshipsareofparticularrelevance.Generallyspeaking,decisionsonships’
manningarelefttotheflagstateadministration.Oncetheadministrationissatisfiedthatthenumber
andqualificationsofthecrewisadequatefortheshipinquestion,usuallyassessedonthebasisofan
estimateandjustificationproposedbytheship’sowner/operator,itwillissueasafemanning
documentfortheship.IntermsofsubstanceSOLASRegulationV/14essentiallyonlyrequiresthat
“fromthepointofviewofthesafetyoflifeatsea,allshipsshallbesufficientlyandefficientlymanned.”
Theassociatedguidelines(IMOResolutionA.1047(27))aremoredetailedandmentionabroader
rangeofobjectiveswithmanning,includingshipsecurity,safetyofcargoandenvironmental
protection,buttheyarenotlegallybinding.
Thekeyquestionwithrespecttounmannedshipsiswhethertheon-boardmanningcouldbereduced
totheextentthatasafemanningdocumentcouldbeissuedevenifthereisnotasinglecrewmember
onboardtheship,i.e.thatthesafemanningwouldbezero.This,inturn,iscloselylinkedtothe
questionofwhethertasksperformedbythecrewcanbetakenoverbyon-shorecontrollersor,inthe
caseofhighlyautomatedoperations,byotherpartiesresponsiblefortheship’soperations.
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Ontheonehand,ifanationaladministrationweretodecidethatthefunctionsrequiredtoensurethe
safetyofoperationscouldbeperformedfromotherplacesthanfromtheshipitself,itisdifficulttofind
aprovisionthatwouldbedirectlyviolatedbythatdecision.‘Manned’isnotnecessarilythesameas
‘attended’andland-basedcontrollersofshipsmightverywellbeabletoperformmanyofthe
operationalfunctionsremotelywhileshore-basedmaintenancestaffcouldundertaketherequired
maintenanceandservicework.Indeedtheguidelinesonsafemanningspecificallyprovidethat
technicalequipmentandlevelofautomationistobetakenintoconsiderationwhendecidingonthe
manninglevels(Annex2,paras.1.1.3and1.1.4).Norwouldsuchadecisionnecessarilybeagainstthe
purposeunderlyingthesafemanningrules.Itisnotexcludedthattheoperationoftheshipmight
actuallygetsaferifmorefunctionsaretransferredtoshore,asnewtypesofequipment,redundancy
systemsetc.arebroughtonboardandnewfunctionswillbeperformedfromashore.
Ontheotherhand,theprecisewordingoftheindividualprovisionsshouldbeconsideredwithsome
cautioninthiscontext,asitisevidentthattheinternationalandnationalrulesonsafemanningare
draftedontheunderstandingthatthecrewisbasedonboardtheship.Theprospectofunmanned
shipswasnotthereatthetimetherulesweredevelopedandoneshouldthereforeavoidreadingin
toomuchsupportforthatdevelopmentintoexistinglegaltexts.Thisisallthemoretrueforfully
autonomousoperations,whichstretchesthenotionofmanningevenfurther.
ChapterVImainlycontainsoperationalrequirementsrelatedtothesafeloadingandunloadingof
solidbulkcargoes.Thechapter,likeEUDirective2001/96/EC,whichmakestheapplicationofthe
‘BLUCode’(IMORes.862(20))mandatoryinEUports,includesanumberofloadingproceduresand
requirementswhichpresupposeactivecommunicationbetweenthemaster,theshipperandthe
terminaloperator.
ChapterIXmakesmandatorytheInternationalSafetyManagement(ISM)Code,whichrequiresa
safetymanagementsystemtobeestablishedbytheshipowneroranypersonwhohasassumed
responsibilityfortheship(the"Company").ThemainpurposeoftheISMCodeistoachieveagreater
involvementoftheshore-sidecompanyinthesafetymanagementofindividualships.Itincludes
requirementsondefiningthemaster’sresponsibilities,plansforshipboardoperationsand
maintenance,emergencypreparedness,documentationetc.
Evenifunmannedshipoperationswillinevitablyservetostrengthenthelinkbetweenshore-based
operatorsandtheship,compliancewiththeCodeposescertainchallengesincasethemanningofa
shipconcernedisreducedtozero.Thisisparticularlythecasewithrespecttolinesofcommunication
andreportingrequirements.ItcanbefurthernotedthatSOLASincludesnopossibilitiesfor
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exemptionsfromChapterIX,exceptforgovernment-operatedshipsusedfornon-commercial
purposes.
ChapterXI-2addressesmeasurestoenhancemaritimesecurity.Itmostlydealswithobligationsfor
(flagstate)administrationsandshipoperatingcompanies,butpresupposeaclosecommunication
betweenthemandtheship.Regulations11and12specificallyprovideforthepossibilityforstates
partiestoagreeonalternativesecurityagreementswithotherstatesorequivalentarrangementsfor
theirownshipsprovidedtheyareatleastaseffectiveasthoseprescribedinChapterXI-2.
3.3InternationalConventionforthePreventionofPollutionfromShips(MARPOL)
MARPOListhemainIMOconventionfordealingwithvariousformsofpollutionfromships.Itincludes
constructionandequipmentprovisions,e.g.foroiltankers,butalsocertainoperationaland
proceduralrequirements,includingdischargelimits,proceduresforship-to-shiptransfers,various
reportingobligationsincaseofspillsandrequirementstokeepdifferentrecordbooks.Theapplicable
requirementswillnodoubthavetobecompliedwithbyunmannedships,butgenerallyspeakingthe
MARPOLrequirementsareunlikelytopresentparticularchallengesinthisregard.Recordbookscan
presumablybemaintainedinanelectronicformatwhilereportingandnotificationobligationsexistin
severalconventionsandneedtobeaddressedinsimilarways.Responsestopollutionemergenciesas
outlinedinthe‘shipboardoilpollutionemergencyplan’(SOPEP)willhavetobeadaptedtothe
responsecapabilitiesofunmannedships.
3.4ConventionontheInternationalRegulationsforPreventingCollisionsatSea(COLREGs)
TheCOLREGsincludeavarietyof‘rulesfortheroad’inshipping,includingonsafespeed,signals,
lights,etc.andrulesonprioritiesandmanoeuvringfordifferenttypesofvesselsindifferentsituations.
Theruleswillalsoapplytoanunmannedship,whichrepresentnospecialcategoryofshipswithinthe
meaningoftheCOLREGs.
TheCOLREGscoverbothcorenavigationaltasksofthecrewonboardaship:situationawareness
(includinglookout)andoperationaldecision-makingwhenitcomestocollisionavoidance,priorities,
speedetc.Bothaspectsarelikelytoposechallengesforunmannedships.
Thelook-outrequirementisprovidedforinRule5:
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“Everyvesselshallatalltimesmaintainaproperlook-outbysightandhearingaswellasbyallavailablemeans
appropriateintheprevailingcircumstancesandconditionssoastomakeafullappraisalofthesituationandof
theriskofcollision.”
Thepurposeofthelookoutruleistomakesurethatwhoevercontrolstheshipareawareofthethings
aroundthemtomakeinformeddecisionswithrespecttoactionsinavoidingcollisions.Thetermlookout,asusedbytheRules,doesnotnecessarilydenoteaperson,butratherthesystematiccollectionof
information.Moreover,theuseofvaguetermssuchas“proper”and“appropriate”providesflexibility
forhowsuchlook-outisorganisedonboard.3
ThekeyquestionforunmannedshipsiswhetherthewordingofRule5isbroadenoughtoauthorisea
replacementofthehumanlookoutbyvarioustypesofcameras,radar,audiotechnologyandother
technicalsolutions.Onthebasisofthepurposeoftheruleanditsflexiblewording,itisarguablethat
thiscouldbeacceptediftheequipmentallowsthecontrollertohaveanadequateoverviewofthe
circumstancesallowinghimtakeappropriateactioningoodtime,tothesameextentorbetterthanif
hewouldbeonboard.However,inviewofthewidespreadauthorityofCOLREGsandthenatureof
collisionregulation(alwaysinvolvingmorethanoneship),anysuchclarificationorinterpretation
shouldbedoneatinternationallevelratherthanbyindividualstates.
Aseparatequestioniswhethertheremotecontrollercouldalsobeinchargeoftherelevant
operationaldecisionsontheship’snavigationandmanoeuvring.Forthismatter,COLREGsdonot
poseanydirecttextualobstacle.Thesubjectsofthesteeringandsailingrulesare‘vessels’,withoutany
furtherdetailsaboutthepersonbehindthedecisions.Themoreproblematicquestionariseswhen
operationaldecisionsareautomated,withoutacontrollerinchargeofthecompletedecision-making.
Fromatechnicalpointofviewitisprobablyfeasibletocreatealgorithmsthatcomplyverydiligently
withthesteeringandsailingrulesofCOLREGs,eventakingintoaccountthesometimesunpredictable
actionsofotherships.Achallenge,however,isthattheCOLREGsdonotofferabsoluterulesof
conduct.Therulesforpreventingcollisionsincludeobligationforbothvesselstotakeavoidance
actionifitseemsthatthereisariskofcollision.Inaddition,theCOLREGsincludearulewhichserves
togiveprecedencetogoodseamanshipoveritsownprovisions.4Whatconstitutesgoodseamanship
3
See e.g. C. Llana & G. Wisneskey Handbook of the Nautical Rules of the Road, 3rd on-line edition, 2006 (updated in 2011),
available at http://navruleshandbook.com/Rule5.html
4
COLREGs Rule 2 provides that:
(a) Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master or crew thereof, from the
consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be
required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.
(b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and
collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a
departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger.
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forthispurposeisamatteroffacttobeassessedafterconsiderationofallrelevantprevailing
circumstances.Itseemsclearthattheincorporationof‘goodseamanship’intoanyautomated
navigationprogrammemaybecoupledwithseriousdifficulties.
AnotherquestionlinkedtoCOLREGsiswhetherunmannedshipsshouldbegivenaspecificsignal,
light,AISmessageortheliketoinformmarinersonboardothershipsabouttheirstatus.Theanswer
tothisisprobablypositive,andalthoughsomenationalsolutionsinthisfieldcouldbejustifiedunder
Rule1(b),suchdecisionsshouldpreferablybemadeatinternationallevel.Bycontrast,iftheobjective
isthatunmannedshipsshouldbenaturallyintegratedintotheenvironmentofmannedships,itdoes
notseemjustifiabletomaintainthatunmannedshipsshouldhaveastatusthatwouldofferitspecial
privilegesandprioritiesoverothershipsinCOLREGs.5
3.5InternationalConventiononStandardsofTraining,CertificationandWatchkeepingforSeafarers
(STCW)
TheSTCWConventiondoesnotstrictlyspeakingapplytopersonswhoarenotworkingonboard
ships.AccordingtoitsArticleIII,theConventionapplies“toseafarersservingonboardseagoingships”
flyingtheflagofastateparty.
Evenifnotstrictlyspeakingapplicable,itisevidentthatacorrespondingtrainingregimewill
eventuallyhavetobedevelopedforpersonsoperatingshipsremotely.Intheshorterterm,national
administrationshavebeengrantedsomediscretiontoapplyequivalentarrangements,includingto
caterfortechnicaldevelopments.UnderArticleIX(1):
TheConventionshallnotpreventanAdministrationfromretainingoradoptingothereducational
andtrainingarrangements,includingthoseinvolvingseagoingserviceandshipboard
organisationespeciallyadaptedtotechnicaldevelopmentsandtospecialtypesofshipsand
trades,providedthatthelevelofseagoingservice,knowledgeandefficiencyasregards
navigationalandtechnicalhandlingofshipandcargoensuresadegreeofsafetyatseaandhasa
preventiveeffectasregardspollutionatleastequivalenttotherequirementsoftheConvention.
Thequalificationandcompetencesofpersonnelwhoareoperatingshipsfromaremotelocationneed
tobegivenconsiderationinviewofthecombinationofmaritimeandtechnologyskillsthatisneeded
forthistypeofwork.Inthemeantime,itisprobablysafetoapply(atleast)theSTCWandother
5
It has been suggested, for example, that compliance with the COLREGs might be ensured merely by treating unmanned
ships as a vessel ”not under command” or ”restricted in her ability to manoeuvre” under Rule 18, which would require other
ships to give way.
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nationalrequirementsanalogically(asifthepersonswereonboardtheship).Ifandwhenitis
consideredthatunmannedshipoperationsrequireparticulartraining,therelevantprovisionswould
probablyneedtobeamendedtoaccommodatethenewrequirementsfortheoperationofunmanned
orlargelyautomatedships.
ThebiggestchallengesforunmannedshipsinrelationtoSTCWprobablylieinthefieldof
watchkeeping.Theresponsibilitiesforsafewatchkeepinginvolveseveralpersons,includingthe
company,themaster,thechiefengineerofficersandthewholewatchkeepingpersonnel,whose
responsibilityitistoensure“thatasafecontinuouswatchorwatchesappropriatetotheprevailing
andconditionsaremaintainedonallseagoingshipsatalltimes”.This,accordingtoRegulation
VIII/2(2)(1),includesthat“officersinchargeofthenavigationalwatchareresponsiblefornavigating
theshipsafelyduringtheirperiodsofduty,whentheyshallbephysicallypresentonthenavigating
bridgeorinadirectlyassociatedlocationsuchasthechartroomorbridgecontrolroomatalltimes.”
ThemoredetailedrequirementsarelaiddownintheSTCWCode,whichinitsmandatoryPartA
includesdetailedprovisionsforwatchkeepinginvariousconditions,includingrequirementson
lookout,bridge,engineroomandradiowatches.Provisionsforworkhoursandrestinghoursare
includedintheactaswellasanobligationtoperformrouteplanningaheadoftheintendedvoyage.
Itisprobablydifficultforunmannedshipstomeetthewatchkeepingrequirementaslaiddowninthe
STCWConventionandCode,whichsuggeststhatsomeamendmentoftheseinstrumentswillbe
necessarybeforecommercialshipscanoperatecompletelywithoutacreworevenwithradically
reducedwatcharrangementson-board.Ontheotherhand,itshouldbeborneinmindthatthe
reductionofon-boardcrewwillnormallybecompensatedbyotherfunctionsperformedremotely.
Theseland-basedfunctionsshouldatleasttosomeextentalleviatetheconcernsrelatedtofatigueand
reductionofsafetylevelswhichareusuallyassociatedwithreductionsofon-boardcrew.
Intheend,thedecisionofwhetheraparticularmanningsufficesformaintainingasafelookoutand
watchkeepingontheshipwillhavetobeaddressedthroughtheprocessofsafemanningwhereall
suchfactorswillhavetobetakenintoaccount.
3.6MaritimeLabourConvention(MLC)
Theprincipalconventioninthefieldofmaritimeemployment,the2006MaritimeLabourConvention
(MLC)addressesarangeofissuesrelatingtolabourconditionsonboardships,rangingfrom
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recruitmentandconditionsofemploymenttofundamentalrightsofseafarersandrecreational
facilitiesonboard.Itappliestoallseafarersonships“ordinarilyengagedincommercialactivities”.
ThefirstpointtobenotedwithrespecttounmannedshipsisthatthescopeoftheMLCConventionis
limitedto‘seafarers’(MLC,ArticleII(2)),whichisdefinedinMLCArticleII(1)(f)as“anypersonwhois
employedorengagedorworksinanycapacityonboardashiptowhichthisConventionapplies”
(emphasisadded).Literallyspeaking,ashipwhichisentirelyunmannedisaccordinglynotsubjectto
theserules.Yet,forunmannedshipsitmightnotbethelastword,asArticleII(3)includesaspecific
procedureforsettlingwhetheraparticularcategoryofpersonistoberegardedasaseafarer:
“Intheeventofdoubtastowhetheranycategoriesofpersonsaretoberegardedasseafarersfor
thepurposeofthisConvention,thequestionshallbedeterminedbythecompetentauthorityin
eachMemberafterconsultationwiththeshipowners’andseafarers’organizationsconcerned
withthisquestion.”
Secondly,sincetherulesmainlytargetlivingandworkingconditionsonboardshipstheircontent
largelylosetheirrelevanceiftheshipiscompletelyunmanned.Itisthereforelikelythatissuessuchas
employmentconditions,workinghoursetc.forshore-basedremotecontrollerswillbesubjectto
relevantland-basedrules,possiblytobecomplementedbyseparateruleswhichtakeinto
considerationsthespecificnatureoftheirtasks.
4.Liabilityrules
4.1General–AutonomousSystemsChallengeLegalThinking
Inviewoftheprojectedincreaseofautonomousvehicletechnologies,futureaccidentswill
increasinglybecausedbydefectiveproductsandsystems,whiletheroleofhumanerrorisreducedor
atleastshiftedelsewhere.Whenthereislesshumancontrol,thereliabilityandproblem-solving
capacityofanautonomoussystembecomecrucial.Theautonomoussystemmustsurviveevenwhen
humaninterventionisnotpossible.Thisalsomeansachangeinlegalthinking.Liabilityfordamages
cannotbebasedonhumanactsoromissionsinthesamewayastoday.
Currentlylawdoesnotprovideclear-cutanswerstoquestionsonliabilityforautonomousoperations.
Intheory,severalactorsmaybeheldliableforaccidentscausedbyanautonomoussystem.Liability
could,forexample,beplacedwiththeowner,userormanufacturerofanautonomousdevice,oreven
onthemanufacturerwhohasproducedthedefectivecomponent.Asautonomoussystemsbecome
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morecommon,thequestionofliabilityneedstobeclarified.Somemanufacturersofself-drivingcars
haveevenvoluntarilytakenupthequestion,irrespectiveofthelegalframeworkinvolved:
“Wearethesuppliersofthistechnologyandweareliableforeverythingthecarisdoingin
autonomousmode.Ifyouarenotreadytomakesuchastatement,youshouldn'ttrytodevelopan
autonomoussystem.”6
Fromatechnologypointofview,autonomousvesselsandself-drivingcarsmayhavemanythingsin
common.Nevertheless,legalconclusionsappliedtoroadtrafficarenotdirectlytransferableto
autonomousshippingandviceversa.Actors,automation,accidentsandcontextaredifferent.For
example,shipsaremorelikelytobeoperatedbycompaniesthanbyprivateindividualsand
automationismorefocusedonremotecontrolthancompleteautomation,atleastintheearlyphases.
Inthefollowing,thebasisofthecurrentmaritimeliabilitylegalframeworkispresentedinsection4.2.
Afterthat,somewaysinwhichautonomoustechnologiesmayaffectthefunctioningoftheexisting
liabilityframeworkarehighlightedinsection4.3,followedbysomeconcludingobservationsinsection
4.4.Asliabilityregimesdifferindifferentjurisdictions,thepresentoutlinespecificallydepartsfrom
theNordicand,inparticular,Finnishlegalperspective.
4.2MaritimeLiabilityRules
Maritimelawrelatingtoshipoperators’liabilitiesandcompensationofdamageincludeanumberof
peculiaritiesthatarespecificforthisbranchoflaw.Theruleshavebeendevelopedwiththeparticular
featuresofshippinginmind,oftenoriginatinginconsiderationsandconceptsthathavebeenapplied
forcenturies.Basicissues,suchaswhoisresponsible,onwhatbasis,andforwhatamounthaveto
someextentbeenharmonisedthroughinternationalconventions.However,significantnational
variationsexistasstates’participationtothemaritimeliabilityconventionsisnotasuniformasforthe
safetyconventionsdiscussedaboveandasliabilityissuestoalargerextentdependonnational
traditionsandthelegalsystemconcerned.Whatlawswillbeappliedinagivencaseinturndepends
onaseriesoffactors,includingwheretheincidenttookplace,thetypeofincidentsand,insomecases,
onthenationalityofthekeyplayersinvolved,includingtheship’sflagstate.
First,withregardtotheliableperson,existingmaritimeliabilityrulesgenerallychannelsliabilityand
dutiestoowners/operatorsofships(Finnish:‘laivanisäntä’,German:‘Reder’,French:‘armateur’),
6
Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. See www.autoblog.com/2015/10/09/volvo-acceptautonomous-car-liability/
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ratherthantoindividualcrewmembersorotherassistants.Likeemployersgenerally,the
owner/operatorhasabroadvicariousliabilityfordamagecausedintheservicebythefaultorneglect
ofthemaster,crew,pilotorothersperformingworkintheserviceoftheship.Thepossibilityfor
aggrievedpartiestoclaimdamagesfromothersthantheowner/operatorislimited,butthe
owner/operatorhimselfmaybeabletotakesubsequentrecourseactionagainstthepartyatfault.
Specialliabilityrulesforparticularcasesmayalterthisstartingpoint,butthebroadvicariousliability
oftheowner/operatorremains.Incaseofliabilityforcollisions,forexample,liabilityisplacedonthe
‘ship(s)’atfaultwithoutanymentionofthepersonsactuallybehindthecollision.Environmental
liabilityrulesnormallychannelliabilityexclusivelytotheregistershipowner,specificallyexcludinga
rangeofotherpotentiallyliablepersons.Theidentityofthepersonwhosefaultactuallycausedthe
damagewillthereforenotnormallyhaveanimpactonthequestionofliablepersonfromthepointof
viewofclaimants,aslongasthefaultissomehowlinkedtotheoperationoftheship.
Second,astothethresholdoffaultornegligencerequiredtotriggerliability,therulesdifferbetween
differenttypesofliability.Forcertaincases,suchasincidentscausingpollutionorinjuryto
passengers,it’sacceptedthatclaimantsneednotdemonstratenegligenceonbehalfofthe
owner/operatortobecompensated(i.e.ownersinthesecaseshaveastatutory‘strict’liability).Inthe
absenceofsuchrules,thegeneralruleisthatliabilityoftheowner/operatorpresupposesfault
(negligentactsoromissions)onbehalfoftheowner/operatororhishelpers.Fault-basedliabilityis
alsothesoleruleforapportioningliabilityincaseofcollisions.Autonomousshipoperationsmay
introducenewconsiderationsregardingfaultwhicharediscussedinsection4.3below.
Third,currentmaritimelawgrantstheliablepartywithawide-reachingrighttofinanciallylimitthe
liabilityperincidentbasedonthesizeoftheship.Therightofshipowners/operatorstolimitliability
islostonlyinveryexceptionalcases.Claimantsmayaccordinglynotbeabletorecoverfull
compensationfortheirlosses,howeverlegitimatetheirclaimsmaybe.Limitationofliabilityappliesto
faultscommittedbypersonsforwhomtheshipowner/operatorisresponsibleandhencetoabroad
numberofhelpersinvolvedintheoperationoftheship.
Thekeyelementsofthegeneralmaritimeliabilityregimearethusabroadvicariousliabilityplacedon
theowner/operatoroftheship,whichisbasedonfaultorneglectandprotectedbyastrongrightof
limitation.Theserulesalsoformthebasisforliabilityinsurancesandotherriskmanagement.For
shipsabove300gtenteringEuropeanUnionportsthereisanobligationtomaintainliabilityinsurance
uptotheapplicablefinanciallimits.
4.3ImplicationsofAutonomousShipping
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Eveniftheremaynotbeanimmediateneedtochangethefoundationsofmaritimeliabilityfor
autonomousships,itisneverthelessimportanttorecognisethatthetechnicaldevelopmenttowards
increasedautomationdoesinvolvecertainchallengestothecurrentliabilityframework.
Whileerrorscommittedbypersonscontrollingremotely-operatedshipsareprobablytobetreatedin
thesamewayaserrorscommittedbyon-boardcrewmembers,autonomoustechnologymaygenerate
newtypesoferrorsandcausalrelationships.Oneexampleisdamagecausedbymalfunctionofan
autonomoussystem,e.g.bydevicefailureorfaultysoftware.Evenunderthesecircumstancesthe
owner/operatorwouldprobablybeliable,atleastinpart,ifhe(orhisassistants)failtooverridethe
autonomoussystem.However,scenarioswherehumaninterventionisnotevenpossiblearemore
complicated.Forexample,iftheconnectionbetweenthevesselandcontrolleriscutoff,thevesselwill
havetorelyexclusivelyonitsautonomoussystems.Ifanaccidentthenoccursduetofailuresinthe
autonomoussystem,duetowrongfulprogrammingetc.,itislessobviousthattheowner/operator
wouldcarrytheliabilityunderastrictlyfault-basedliabilityscheme.
Suchdrawbacksofafault-basedliabilityschemeforhighlyautomatedsystemsmayadvancethe
argumentinfavourofastrictliabilityregimeforautomatedships.That,ontheotherhand,would
createasignificantdifferentiationbetweenmannedandunmannedvesselswhichmightnotbe
justifiedfromariskpointofviewandwouldinanycaseresultindifficultissuesofdelimitationand
definition.
Asanalternative,claimantsmaytrytobasetheirclaimsonotherliabilitysystemsthanthemaritime
one.Ifaccidentswereincreasinglycausedbydefectiveautonomoussystems,theaggrievedparties
couldtrytomakeclaimsagainstthebuilderofthevesselorthemanufactureroftheautonomous
system,itssoftwareetc.Thiswouldmeanashifttowardsproductliabilityinthemaritimecontextto
fillaperceived‘liabilitygap’inmaritimelaw.Thedevelopmentcouldbeadvantageousforclaimants,
as,forexample,theEUdirectiveonproductliabilityisbasedonastrictliabilityoftheproducerand
doesnotincludeageneralfinanciallimitationofliability.
Itseemsinevitablethatpressuresforsuchalternativesolutionswillgrowifitturnsoutthatthe
existingmaritimeliabilityregimeisinsufficienttocovertheconcernsofbusinesspartners,claimants
andthegeneralpublicrelatingtotherisksinvolvedwithautonomousshipping.Autonomousshipping
mayverywellactasacatalystforthisdevelopment,asitiseasiertoappreciatethecriticalroleofthe
product(liability)insystemswherethereisnohumaninterventioninvolved.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Figure1:Thepossibleliabilityframeworkinautonomousshipping
Itshouldbeemphasised,however,thattheapplicationofproductliabilityrulestoautonomous
shippingisbynomeansstraightforwardeither.TheEUDirectiveonthematter,forexample,only
coversalimitedrangeofthepotentiallyrelevanttypesofdamages.Forafullerpictureofroleof
shipyardsandmanufacturersofautonomoussystems,othersupplementaryliabilitysystemsmustalso
bestudiedinparallel.Thekeypointatthisstageismerelythatproductandotherliabilityrulesmay
verywelloperateinparallelwiththetraditionalmaritimeliabilityregimeinthefutureandthatthe
prospectofseveralbasesofliabilityforautonomousshippingneedstobetakenseriouslyfromthe
outset.Thepresenceofparallelliabilityregimesnecessarilyinvolvescomplexlegalquestionsrelating
toscopeandpriorities.
4.4ConcludingObservations
Autonomousshippingmightnotimposeasacutedemandsforchangeofthemaritimeliabilityrulesas
isthecaseforsomeoftheIMOConventionsdiscussedinsection3.However,itwillaffectthemaritime
liabilityframework,possiblyquitesignificantly,albeitataslowerpace,initiallyprobablydrivenby
nationalcaselaw.Inthelongerterm,however,autonomousshippingcouldcontributetothe
introductionofnewlegalregimestosupplementthetraditionalmaritimelawframeworktofill
(perceivedorreal)gapsintheexistingmaritimelawregime.Astherateofautomationincreases,there
needstobetrustnotonlyinthesystemsassuch,butalsointhelegalregimewhichistheretomake
goodforanydamagecausedbythenewtypeofoperations.
Theincreasedautomationinshippingmayalsoaffectmaritimeriskmanagementmoregenerally.
Currentinsuranceandcontractualarrangements,forexample,areallbasedonthepremisethatships
aremanned.Inautonomousshipping,theplayersinvolved,theirroles,responsibilitiesandliabilities
willbedifferent,whichcallsforconsequentialadjustmentsininsuranceandcontractualpractices.The
legalimplicationsofautonomousshippingaccordinglyextendbeyondtheliabilityrules.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
5.Summary
Theexistingmaritimelawframeworkdoesnotanticipateunmannedshipping.Abroadrangeofrules
arepotentiallyconcernedbyashifttounmannedshippingoperations,butthenatureofthechallenge
toaccommodatethisshiftintheexistinglawdiffersfromonetypeofruletoanother.
Sinceitisassumedthatthevehiclesofinterestherequalifyas‘ships’underthevariousinternational
andnationalrules,theregulatorysituationisreasonablystraightforward.Thestartingpointisthatthe
unmannedshipsaresubjecttothesamerightsandobligationsastheirmannedcounterparts.
Themostimmediatechallengesforensuringthelegalityofunmannedshippingoperationsarefound
atthelevelofinternationaltechnicalrules,i.e.theIMOrules.Thisisnotonlywherethemostclear
substantivetensionsarefoundinrelationtoexistingrules,buttheserulesarealsodecisivefor
steeringthecontentofthejurisdictionalrulesofthelawoftheseaaswellasofnationalmaritimelaws
worldwide.Inotherwords,ifIMOrulesspecificallyrecognisedandauthorisedunmannedshipping
operations,evenasanoption,theregulatorychallengeattheotherlegallevelswouldbesignificantly
reduced.
Thenatureofthechallengealsodependsonthetradingareaoftheshipandofthelevelofautomation
concerned.Shipmovementswithinasinglestateinvolvesonestate’sapprovalonlyandalargepartof
theinternationalrequirementsdonotapplytosuchtransports.Autonomousshipsinvolvegreater
legalchallengesthanremotelyoperatedones.Thelatteronesstillhaveacrew,evenifnotonboard,
andmayhencemoreeasilycomplywithanumberoftoday’soperationalrequirements.
TheIMOrulesinternationalrulesacceptasignificantdiscretionfortheflagstateadministrationto
acceptalternativeandequivalentsolutions,whichwillnodoubtbeofrelevanceintheearlyphasesof
unmannedshipping.ThisflexibilityforflagstateshasbeensomewhatreducedforEUmemberstates
bytheintroductionofEUmaritimelegislation,butitisclearthatunmannedshippingcannotbe
introducedintheearlyphaseswithoutsignificantco-operationbytheship’sflagstateadministration.
Maritimeliabilityrulesseemlessacutetoamend,butarealsolikelytoundergosignificantchanges
overtime,asnewplayers,newrisksand-possibly-newliabilitysystemswillenterthescenewith
unmannedshippingoperations.Existingliabilityrulesmayneedtobeinterpreted,amendedand
possiblysupplementedbydedicatedrulestosupplementthetraditionalmaritimeliabilityframework.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Newliabilityrules,inturn,willhaverepercussionsonmarineinsuranceandotherbusiness
relationshipsoftheshipoperators.
Thelegalchallengesdiscussedherearenotinsurmountableaslaws,atanylevel,canalwaysbe
amendedtoaccommodatenewdevelopments.Thebiggerquestioniswhetherthereissocietal
acceptanceandpreparednessinthemaritimecommunityandbeyondtomakechangesto
accommodateunmannedshipping.Iftheanswertothatquestionispositive,thelegalchallengeis
reducedtoidentifyingthekeyrulesthatareinneedofadjustmentsandmaketheamendments.The
amendmentscouldpossiblyevenbeintheformofagenericacceptanceofcertainkeyissuesof
principle,suchasthepossibilitytoperformon-boardfunctionsfromaremotelocationandthe
relationshipbetweencrewresponsibilitiesandautomatedfunctions.
Suchinternationalamendments,however,takeseveralyearstoinitiateandformulateandstillmore
yearstocomeintoeffect.Intheinterim,non-bindingIMOguidelinesorbestpracticecodesfor
unmannedshippingoperationsmayprovideimportantsupportandassistanceforflagstatesthatsee
thebenefitsofthedevelopmentandwishtosupportit,butarestillnotpreparedtoriskthe
internationalconnectionthathasinspiredmaritimeregulationforcenturies.
Annex:Summaryofthedifferentlayersandsubstantivebranchesofmaritimelaw
Jurisdictional
Technicalreq.and
Privatelawissues
Otherrules
rules
standards
(shipownerandothercommercial
(Criminal,social,
(maintarget:states)
(maintarget:flagstates)
partners)
commercial,publiclawetc.)
Global(UN)
UNCLOS
Global
SOLAS,MARPOL,STCW,
Privatelawconventionsone.g.
(IMO&ILO)
Global(IMO,
COLREGS,MLC
UNCITRAL,
liability,limitation,arrest,carriage
CMIetc.)
European
ofgoods,salvage,etc.
Union
Nordicstates
Shipsafetydirectives&
Productliabilityrules,insurance
SeveralissuescoveredbyEU
regulations
requirements
Treaty&legislation
Rulesoncompetentjurisdiction
Limitationsonexemptions
andapplicablelaw
NordicMaritimeCodes,Nordic
marineinsuranceterms
National
(Finland)
Nationalimplementing
FinnishMaritimeCode674/1994,
Theentirelegislationapplies
legislation,discretionofflag
otherspecifiedactsonliability,
aprioriforshipsflyingits
stateadministration(Trafi)
insuranceetc.
flag
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Safetyandsecurity
RistoJalonen,Projectmanager,seniorresearchscientist,AaltoUniversity
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering/MarineTechnologyGroup
RistoTuominen,Seniorscientist,VTTTechnicalResearchCentreofFinlandLtd
MikaelWahlström,Seniorscientist,VTTTechnicalResearchCentreofFinland
Ltd
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Safetyandsecurityinautonomousshipping–challengesforresearch
anddevelopment
Summary
Safetyandsecurityimposeessentialconstrainingrequirementsthatneedtobefulfilledinthedesign
andimplementationofshipautomation.Inprinciple,autonomousortele-operatedshipsarerequired
tobe,atleast,assafeasconventionalvesselsinsimilarservice.However,duetoconsiderable
uncertaintyconcerningnewhazardsandrisks,itmaybepossiblethatevenmorestringentsafetygoals
areneededforfutureapplicationswithexpandedportionsoftasksandoperationscarriedouteither
underremotecontrolorasautonomousoperations.Problemscanbetreatedaschallenges,andin
engineeringtheymayoftenbesolvedbycreatingnewtechnicalorsometimeseventechnological
solutions.Thequestions,whatneedstobedonetoensuresafetyandsecurityinshipswithcontinually
risinglevelsofautomationandremotecontrol,oruptowhatleveltheautomationcanbeincreasedin
ships,havebecomemorerelevantthaneverbefore.Whileaddressedinitiallyinafewearlierstudies,
theimpactsofautonomous,unmannedmerchantshipsonmaritimesafetyhavenotbeenstudied
widelyanddeeplyenough,yet.ThegapsininformationwillbefilledtosomeextentintheAAWA
Initiative.
Makingsomethingnew–somethingthathasnotexistedbefore–iscentraltoengineering.According
tohistoricalrecordstheconceptoffailurehasquiteoftenbeencentraltotheincreasingunderstanding
inseveralareasofthemultidisciplinaryengineeringscience.Innewdesignsithasalwaysbeenan
overridingobjectivetoavoidfailure.Safetyandsecurityneedtobetakenintoaccountwellenough
fromthebeginningofthedesigntotheendofthewholelife-cycleofthenewdesign.Thesociotechnicalapproachhaswidenedoureyestopossibilitiestoconsider,notonlymanyimportant
technicaldetails,butalsowideraspects.Thisleadsustosystemicthinkingwiththeimportanteffects
ofoperationalandorganisationalfactorsshapingthesystemdesign.
Visionsofnewdevelopmentsinthefieldofautomationmaybeidentifiedasheraldsofanew
technologicalandoperationalera.Emergenttechnologymayincludemanyhazardsandevensome
disruptiveeffects.Thesefeaturessethighdemandsonthesocialresponsibilityofdeveloperstocover
allimportantaspectsintheirassessmentsofimpactsonsafetyandsecurity.So,obligationsfor
meticulousandover-archingworkbeforepracticaltestapplicationsandfirstcommercialsolutionscan
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
starttospreadarehigh.Oneoftheproblemsrelatedtothemanychallengesistoassessthepaceofthe
development.Ifthetechnologicaldevelopmentseemstobefasterthanthedesignandconstructionof
allnecessaryandfeasiblesafetylevers,moreeffortsshouldbeputongettingthemdevelopedatthe
samepace.
Alongsidedevelopmentoftechnologicalsolutionstoenablehigherlevelsofautonomousoperationof
ships,theAAWAinitiativeaimstobuildupawarenessandunderstandingonsafetyandsecurityrisks
relevanttoenvisionedautonomousconcepts,andpointoutsomesuggestedmeasurestomanagethese
riskseffectively.Theriskknowledgewillbebuiltupgraduallyandcumulativelythrough
comprehensiveanalyses,simulatorstudies,andfinallyinpilotdemonstratorstudiesandteststobe
executedonactualseagoingvesselswithsomethoroughlyconsideredrestrictions.Understanding
autonomousortele-operatedshipsystemsandtheirembeddedcomplexitygrowsgradually,butitis
alsoimportanttoformaholisticpictureofthenew,emergenttechnologyunderdevelopment.Thisis
whatweaimatinAAWA.
1.
Introducingofautonomousmerchantshipsformaritimeoperation
Designandimplementationofmerchantshipconceptsplannedtooperatepartiallyorfully
autonomouslyorunderremotecontrolfromashore,isstillinitsinfancy.Howeverthisvisionofnew
eraofmarinetransportationisgainingincreasinginterestamongthemaritimeindustryandnew
conceptsaredevelopingquicklyworldwide.Theadvancesininformationandcommunications
technology(ICT)inrecentyearsenablequickdevelopmentastheymakepossibletheon-board
intelligenceanddataconnectioncapabilitiesnecessaryformakingshipsabletooperateevenwithout
on-boardcrew.
Theeconomicbenefitsofautonomousoperationconceptshavebeenhypothesisedtocapitalize
highestinoceangoingfreightvesselstransportingrelativelylowvaluecargosonintercontinental
routes.However,mostlikely,thefirstimplementationsincommercialtraffic,firstpilotingandthenin
operationaluse,couldbeexpectedinshortseatrafficandspecialtypeofapplicationswhichoperatein
nationalwaters.Thisisbecauseoftheassociatedeconomicrisk,andtheneedtohavehighconfidence
ontheperformance,reliabilityandsafetyofthesolutionsproposedbeforetakingthemintodeepsea.
Anotherincentivesuggestingthiskindofdevelopmentpathcomesfromtherestrictionsimposedby
themandatoryinternationalmaritimeregulationswhichdonotcurrentlyrecognizetheconceptof
unmannedshipoperation.Consequently,autonomousoperationswillinitiallyrequireexemption
permitswhichacompetentflagstateadministrationmayissueonaparticularshipfornationalwaters
ifsafetyandsecurityarenotcompromised.
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Dependingonhumanoperators’presenceandinvolvementinmonitoring,planning,executionand
controlofshipoperations,differentlevelsofshipautonomycanbeidentified.However,muchworkon
standardizedclassificationshelpingtoidentifyandspecifythedifferentautonomylevelsinshipsmay
stillbeexpected.Inprinciple,inthelowerormediumlevelsofshipautonomy,theincreased
intelligenceintroducedon-boardwouldjustprovideextraassistancetothebridgeoperators,orit
wouldtakeoversmallerorlargerpartsofbridgeoperatortaskswhilebeingundersupervisorycontrol
byacompetentcrewmemberremainingpresenton-boardandabletointerveneincaseofproblems
identifiedbythesupervisororbytheautomatedsystem.
Inhigherlevelsofshipautonomy,thesupervisorycontrolpartmaybetransferredtoadedicated
ShoreControlCentre(SCC)whereasupervisormaybeabletomonitortheoperationofseveralvessels
simultaneouslyandinterveneremotelywhenaspecificneedisidentified.TheSCCcouldalsohavethe
responsibilityforexecutingspecificoperationsofaship,e.g.steeringinandoutaport,whichthen
wouldbecarriedoutremotelybytele-operation.Inthehighestlevelofshipautonomy,theships
wouldoperatewithoutcontinuoushumansupervisionpresenteitheron-boardnoratsomeonshore
controlcentre.However,theautomatedsystemisplannedtomakecontactwithanSCCforhelpwhen
encounteringaproblemsituationitisnotabletoresolve.Suchconnectivity,alwaysavailablewiththe
requiredcapacitywhenneeded,andwithoutanyinterruptions,ismostprobablyanindispensable
featureofapplicationsrelyingonthesupportfromtele-operationfromtheSCC.Alsoimportantwillbe
thesecurityoftheSCCs.
Thetransitiontotheautonomousunmannedshippingeracanbehypothesizedtotakeplacegradually
overaperiodofafewdecades.Thefirstapplications,especiallythosebeingupgradesonexisting
vessels,couldbeexpectedtostillcarrysome,althoughreduced,crewonboardforspecifictasksand
availableasinsitubackupincaseofproblemsencounteredatsea.However,singleapplicationswith
evenhigherlevelsofshipautonomycouldalsobeexpectedalreadyinnearfutureinsomelocal
specificservicesespeciallywellsuitedforunmannedoperation.
2.
Are‘unmannedships’safe?
Thepresentedvisionsoffutureautonomousshipssailingunmannedhaveraisedgenericconcernand
questionsamongsomeprofessionalsandwell-informedlaymenaboutthecredibilityandsafetyof
suchshipsascomparedtoconventionalshipsoperatedbyacrewon-board.Examplesofsafety
concernsexpressedhaveconsidered:
•
abilityofautomationtoreliablydetectsmallvesselsandfloatingobjectsonroute;
•
abilityofautomationtoavoidcollisionsincaseofencountersofmultipleships;
•
abilityofautomationtonavigatesafelyoncoastalfairways;
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
•
reductionsonpreventiveandcorrectivemaintenancethatarecurrentlylargelycarriedout
duringvoyages;
•
abilitytohandleemergencies,suchasfirefightingorfailurerecoveryandrepairsatsea;
•
errorsandmalfunctionsinsoftware;
•
disturbances,malfunctionsandvulnerabilitiesindatacommunicationconnections;
•
unduetrustonthecapabilityandflawlessnessofICTsystems
Fromasecuritypointofviewconcernshavebeenraisedastothehighervulnerabilityofenvisaged
unmannedshipstohijackingorpiracywiththepurposeofsteelingthecargoorkidnapingthevessel
forransom.SimilartotheconcernsraisedregardingcybersecurityofICTsystemsingeneral,potential
vulnerabilityofunmannedshipstocyber-attacksbydifferentadversaries,allowingthemtoillegally
manipulateorexploittheattackedsystem,hasbeenespeciallyunderlined.Thisstrongconcernreflects
therousedpublicawarenessoncybersecurityandisjustifiede.g.bythebreachesincybersecurity
pointedoutrecentlyonsomeautonomousroadvehiclesandinotherexamplesonsomeotherfieldsof
newtechnology.
Contrarytothefearednegativesafetyandsecurityeffects,claimshavealsobeenmadeforthehigher
safetylevelsofshipswithhigherlevelsofautomationandoperationautonomy.Suchclaimshavebeen
reasonede.g.basedonhighinvolvementofhumanerrorinaccidentsatseainthepast,andthehigh
crewfatalityratewhencomparedtootherindustriesobservedcurrently.Bothoftheseissuescouldbe
hypothesisedtobereducedbyincreasedshipautonomybyreducingthehumaninvolvementindirect
controlofships,andbyreducingthesizeofthecrewon-boardandexposedtohazardsofthehostile
seaenvironment.
Whileaddressedinitiallyinfewstudies,itappearsthattheimpactsofunmannedmerchantshipson
maritimesafetyhavenotyetbeenstudiedcomprehensively.Furthermore,thereisnoexperience
availableonsuchshipsandtheirsafetyineverydayuse.Thereforeitisofhighimportanceinanynew
developmentprojectsthatthesafetyrisksaresystematicallyaddressedfromthebeginning,andthe
knowledgeonsafetyimplicationsaresystematicallybuiltup,withoutforgettingtheapplicable
experiencefromotherapplicationsfromthepast.
3.
Preconditionsofsafetyandsecurity
Ingeneralautonomousandremotelycontrolledshipsfacesimilarsafetythreatstoconventionalships,
i.e.threatsarisingfromtheseaenvironment,othershipsoperatinginclosevicinity,andships’own
operations.Incaseofautonomousorremotelycontrolledships,however,therecognitionofand
responsetothosethreatsistransferred,toacertaindegree,fromtheon-boardcrewtointelligent
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
softwareandsensorsystemsoperatingon-board,ortosupervisorsmonitoringandcontrollingthe
shipsviadatalinksremotelyonshore.Inaddition,theinterconnectedICTsystemsneededforthe
autonomousorremotelycontrolledoperationbringalongnewriskstobeaddressedandmitigatedin
thedesignandcommissioningofthesystems.
Tobesafeinitsoperation,anautonomousorremotelycontrolledshipshallnotproduceasafety
threattoitself,thesurroundingshipsandproperty,orthemarineenvironment.Inaddition,itneedsto
beabletoadjustitsoperationifgettingthreatenede.g.byothershipsorunexpectedchangesinthe
environment.Thisimplies,ingeneral,thatatele-operated,highlyautomated,orevenunmannedship
mustbecapableof:
•
generating,oratleastusing,avalidvoyageplanforaforeseenseavoyageandassuringthe
ship’sreadinessforthevoyagebeforedeparture;
•
navigatingaccuratelyaccordingtothepredefinedvoyageplan,andavoidingcollisionswith
othertrafficandobstacles–bothfixedandfloating-encounteredduringvoyage;
•
maintainingitsseaworthinessandoperabilityoverthevoyageascarriedoutinvaryingsea
states;
•
respondingsafelytocriticaleventsandadjustingitsoperationtopotentiallydangerous
changesintheoperatingenvironmentandshipconditions;
•
facilitatingemergencyinterventionsforrecoveryandrescueatsea;and
•
resistingunauthorizedintrusionsintoshipsystems,eitherphysicalorvirtual,withtheaimof
maliciousactsorillegalexploitation.
Therelativeimportanceofthesedifferentaspectsobviouslydependsontheparticularapplication,i.e.
shiptypeandtheserviceitisproviding,characteristicsoftheoperatingarea,etc.
Ageneralrequirementcommonlystatedforautonomousunmannedshipsisthat,inordertobe
acceptabletocommercialuse,theymustbeapprovedtobe‘atleastassafeastheconventionalvessels
currentlyinuseforsimilarpurpose’.Someclaimshavealsobeenpresentedthatthelevelofriskthat
canbeconsideredacceptableregardingseverecasualtiesshouldbenotablylowerforautonomous
ships.Thiswouldreflecttheassumedlowerpublictoleranceofriskincaseofautonomousshipsdue
toperceivedlowerlevelofcontrolbythepeopleinvolvedonevolutionofsuchsituationscomparedto
conventionalvessels.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
4.
Focalareasofrisk–someselectedexamples
Inmarinetechnology,risksareoftenassessedandanalysedbycategorisingthemindifferenttypesof
marineaccidents,like:collision,contact,grounding,fire,explosion,capsizing/listing,flooding,
foundering,hullfailure,lossofcontrol,andinsomeaccidentstatisticsadditionally:unknown.
However,incaseofanew,emergenttechnology,suchanapproachmaynotnecessarilybefruitful
enoughforourpurposes,especially,iftotallynewhazards,risksandriskcontroloptionsneedtobe
identifiedandassessed.Therefore,amoreholisticview,notlimitedbytheconventionalwaysof
thinking,isconsiderednecessarytoobtainamorecomprehensiveknowledgeandunderstanding.
Areviewofrelatedliteratureandpreliminaryassessmentofautonomousandremotelycontrolled
shipoperationpointsoutcertainimpactsofincreasedautonomythatcouldbecomedetrimentalto
safetyofshippingunlessproperlytakenintoconsiderationwhendesigningandimplementingthe
systemsforsuchoperation.Safetyofautonomousshipsdependslargelyonthedesignand
technologicalimplementations.However,inadditiontotheinteractionsofthevariouscomponents
andsub-systemsinthetechnology,humanoperatorsandthehuman-technologyinteractionremain
evenmoreimportantelementsinthisimplementation.Inlinewiththis,theriskscouldbecategorised
intothoserelatedtothetechnologiesneededtoimplementautonomousshipoperations,andthose
relatedtooperatingthistechnologysuccessfullyaspartofthemaritimetransportationsystem.
Selectedexamplesofbotharebrieflydescribedinthefollowingsub-chapters.
4.1
Reliabilityofsafetycriticalequipment
Thereisanincreaseddemandforreliabilityordependability7inshipsapplyinghigherthanusual
levelsofautomation.Asamatteroffactthedevelopmenttowardstele-operatedorautonomousships
demandsdependable,safeandsecuresystemson-board,extendingtotheshipitself,itssystemsand
itsenvironment,includingallservicestheshipsuse.Thus,allsystemstheshipispartof,andall
systemsandsub-systemstheshipuses,areinvolved.
ICTsystems
Shore-basedremotemonitoringandcontrolobviouslyreliesontheexistenceofreliableandsecure
communicationlinksbetweenthecontrolcentreandtheshipsunderitssupervisorycontrolsothat
sufficientspeedandbandwidthfortheneededdatatransferiscontinuouslyavailable.
Inprinciple,afullyautonomousvesselcouldoperatesuccessfullyforalongtimewithouthavingan
operationaldatalinkwiththeremoteShoreControlCentre(SCC).However,ifcontrolbyanSCC
7
Dependability is an umbrella term. It includes several sub-terms: reliability performance, availability performance,
maintainability performance, supportability performance, integrity, safety etc. For further details, see IEC TC56 standard.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
operatorisconsiderednecessaryasanemergencybackup,availabilityofanoperationaldatalink
wouldneedtobeverifiedasaprerequisiteforthevesseltooperate.Inotherwords,startingasea
voyageshouldnotbeallowedunlessadatalinkarrangementhavingsufficientcapacityforemergency
operationsandrequiredreliabilityoverthemissionisknowntoexist.Typically,atleastpartially
redundant,divergentdatalinkstofacilitatetheneedsforcommunicationsinthedifferentoperational
situationswouldberequired.
Similarly,robust,compatibleandproperlyvalidatedICTstructuresandsoftwarearerequiredbothonboardthevesselsandattheshorecontrolcentre(SCC)inordertoavoidrisksrelatedtoflawed
operationoftheembeddedsystemintelligence.
Reliabilitymanagement
Conventionalshipsappeartorelystronglyonthecrewon-boardasaninsituresourcefortimely
failurerecoveryatseaandexecutionofpreventivemaintenanceprogramsonlineduringthesea
voyage.Thisallowsusinglesscostlymachineryconfigurationsthatrequirefrequentpreventive
maintenanceactionsandhavelowerreliabilitywithrespecttofailuresrepairableatsea.
Lackofpermanentcrewon-boardwouldessentiallydiminishthecapabilitytoperformpreventiveand
correctivemanualmaintenancetasksonshipequipmentduringseavoyages.Thisimpliesthatsystems
essentialforoperationneedtobedesignedtoberesilienttofailureandextendedmaintenance
intervals.Lackofpermanenton-boardcrewalsocreateshigherdemandsforschedulingof
maintenanceactionsonharbourstays.Thiscallsfortheintroductionofefficientdiagnosticsandnew
predictiveprognosticalgorithmstohelpassessingandcontrollingtheriskoffailuresand
preschedulingofrequiredmaintenanceactionsaspartofoverallshipoperationplanning.Designing
easilymaintainablesystemswouldhelptominimisethetimeandresourcesrequiredandtoassure
thattheactionsarecorrectlyperformed.
Regardingmachinerysystemscontrol,acommontrendseemstobetowardsremotemonitoringand
controlfromshore-basedservicecentresrunoftenbythemanufacturer.Inthiscontext,alsothe
controlofthestatus/healthofotherimportantequipmentthanthemainmachineryneedstobe
maintained.
Basedonexperience,revisionsandrepairsmadeonexistingsoftwareintensivesystemsrepresenta
commonrisktoerrorswithimmediateorlatentimpactsonsystemperformance.Consequently,
revisionsorrepairsonsuchsystemsneedtobethoroughlyplannedandmanagedwithproper
configurationcontrolandcomprehensiveverificationtestingprocedurestosupportrecommissioning
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ofthesystemsbacktonormaluse.Allchangesandmodificationsshouldbetrackableandthus
systematicallyandtruthfullyregisteredinvessel/companylogbooks.
4.2
Humanfactorsissuesinremoteoperationandmonitoring
Thereareavarietyofpotentialchallengesrelatedtooperationandmonitoringoftheunmannedships
withsafetyimplications.Firstly,theexistingliteraturehaspointedoutthatduetoteleoperationthere
wouldbenobodilyfeelingoftheshiprockingorshipsense.Itisthereforepossiblethatfull
understandingoftheconditionswouldnotbeachievedviacamerasystems.Insmallerships,steering
canbeadjustedinaccordancewiththewaveformationthroughbodilysenseoftheship.
Automationandremoteoperationimpliesthattheshipswillbeequippedandoverviewedwith
multiplesensors.Thedangerhereisthattheoperatorcouldbeexposedtoinformationoverloadand
thereforenolongerabletomakesenseofthesituation.Theproblemwouldbeevengraverifone
personwouldmonitorseveralvesselsassteeringtheoverviewfromonevesseltoanothercouldbea
potentialpointformishaps.WithUASs(unmannedaircraftsystem)severalmishapshaveoccurred
duringchangeoversorhandoffs,thesehavingbeenthedirectorindirectcauseoftheincidents.
Representingseveralsourcesofinformationinoneindicationviaso-calledsensorfusionisapotential
solutiontothisproblem.Thismightbeproblematicaswellasitcanbeimportantfortheoperatorto
understandeachofthesensors.Allofthesensorsmightnotalwaysbeworkingandtheymighteven
provideconflictinginformation.Tofullyunderstandthesituation,theoperatorwouldneedso-called
automationawareness,thatis,comprehensionofthecurrentandpredictedstatusofautomation.Yet,
achievingfullunderstandingonwhatdifferentaspectsofautomationaredoingcanbedifficultifthe
sensordataisfusedtogether.Thisfusionshouldbedoneinamannersuchthatthesystemis
transparentfortheoperatoryetwithoutinducinginformationoverload.
Afurthercomplicationispotentialskillshortage,andskilldegradationatalaterphase.Thefirstissue
hereisrelatedtotheavailabilityofonboardtrainingvacanciesfordeckandengineratingsandcadets,
ife.g.thenumberofcabinsandtrainersonboardgetdiminished.Assumedly,withrelianceon
automationandwithoutmanualdrivingactivity,itisdifficulttomaintainskillsneededinvarying
maritimeactivities.Withrespecttoabnormalsituationsthiscouldbeespeciallydifficult.Maintaining
goodskillscouldbeespeciallydifficultifmonitoringafleetofdifferentkindsofships–theoperator
couldhavetolearnthepracticaldifferencesofeachoftheshipsandcouldeasilyforgetorfailto
recognizerelevantissueswhenswitchingtheoperationfromoneshiptoanother.
Drivingtheunmannedshipsremotelybyteleoperationcouldbechallengingduetolatency.Ittakes
timeforasignaltotravelviasatellitesorothermeans.Thisimpliesthatinteleoperationthereis
alwayslatencypresent.Toomuchlatencycaninhibitactualisingpracticaltasks,i.e.,withtoomuch
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distancepluslatencytheso-calledcognitivehorizoninteleoperationcouldbeexceeded.Accordingto
research,50msdelaybordersthelimitofdelaydetectionforhumanbrain.Adelayof200msis
consideredtobenoticeableinpractice.
Additionally,boredomhastobeconsidered.Forexample,inapreviousstudy,92%ofUAS(unmanned
aircraftsystem)operatorshavereported“moderate”to“total”boredom.Boredomcouldresultsasa
lossofvigilanceandisthereforeariskfactor.
Asasummaryofmanypotentialhumanfactorschallenges(excludingsecurity)inautomatedshipping
wemaypresentthefollowinglistofissuesthatneedattention:
•
Diminishedshipsense
•
Informationoverload
•
Mishapsduringchangeoversandhandoffs
•
Needforautomationawareness
•
Skilldegradation
•
Latencyandcognitivehorizon
•
Boredomandvigilancemaintenance
4.3
Security
Securityreferstounauthorizedintentionalactsofpersonsororganisationsaimedtocauseharmor
damageto,ortoillegally/criminallyexploit,asystemforthepurposesofthemaliciousactor.Piracy,
theftofcargo,smugglingofgoods,humantrafficking,damagingofshiporportfacility,vandalismand
sabotage,hijackingofshiporpersonson-board,useofshipasweaponforterroristactivity,etc.are
commonlylistedexamplesofmarinetransportrelatedsecuritythreats.Aparticulartypeofthreat
beingcredibleforaparticularshipobviouslydependsonhowpotentialactorsperceivethethreattype
andtheshiptomatchtotheirobjectivesandperceivedcapabilitiesforsuccessfullyexecutingthe
plannedmaliciousact.Vulnerabilities(i.e.gapsordefects/weaknesses)identifiedintheprotectionsof
shipsystemscouldbeconsideredasanexampleofpotentialincentivesforattemptingtheactand
selectingtheshipasthetarget.
Theactorsformaliciousactsmaybeexternalto,orcomefrominside,theorganization.Traditionally
executionofmaliciousactshasrequiredphysicalpresenceoftheactorsandintrusionintothetarget
system.ThegrowingusageofnetworkedICTtechnology,however,hasmadeitpossibletotryto
accesssystemsvirtuallythroughnetworkinterfacesandgainunauthorizedremotecapabilityto
manipulateorexploitthesystemoritsparticularelementsinsomeundesiredmanner.
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Cybersecurity
Thecontinuousincreaseofconnectedon-boardICTsystemstosupportshipoperationsandtheuseof
differenttypesofdatanetworkstomaketheshipsatseaaccessibleforvarioustypesofremote
onshoreserviceshasinitiatedcommonconcernsoncybersecurityofsuchsystems.Inotherwords,
seriousquestionshavebeenraisedwhethertheimplementationsofsuchsystemscanactually
effectivelyresistmaliciousactsonshipsthatmaybecomeattemptedremotelyviatheICT
infrastructures.Thisconcernandprovokedawarenessisreflected,forexample,inIMOsafety
committeeworktopics,specialnumbersonprofessionaljournals,andbytheguidelinesthatLloyd’s
RegisterrecentlyissuedforICTsystems’designandassuranceonships.
Concernsoncybersecurityarefurtherincreasedinthecontextofautonomousandtele-operated
ships,inwhichtheconnectivityofsystemsisfurtherexpandedtoallowtheshipstorunin
autonomousmodeorbeoperatedremotely.Thisimpliesthat,inprinciple,anybodyskilfulandcapable
toattainaccessintotheICTsystemcouldtakecontroloftheshipandchangeitsoperationaccording
tohackers’objectives.Thiscouldmeansimplysomedisruptiveactionsormanoeuvresintroducedfor
annoyanceordemonstration,hijackingoftheshipandcargoforransom,butalsopoweredgroundings
orcollisionscreatedonpurposetocauseseveredestruction.Inadditiontohackingintothesystems,
operationofautonomousshipscouldalsobethreatenedbyintentionaljammingorspoofingofAISor
GPSsignalsorthedatacommunicationsbetweentheshipandtheshorecontrolcentre.
ProtectionagainstcyberthreatswouldcallforeliminationofvulnerabilitiesintheICTinfrastructure
andimplementationofeffectivemeasuresforintrusionprevention,aswellasintrusiondetection,
damagecontrolandsaferecoveryincaseofthepreventionmeasuresfailing.Reflectingthefactthat
potentialattackerswillgetmoreskilfulovertime,andwillhavemoreadvancedtechniquesavailable
tothem,theoversightoncybersecurityneedstobedynamicandproactiveintroducingupdatesinthe
systemsaccordingly.Dataclassification,dataencryption,useridentification,authenticationand
authorisation,dataprotectionagainstunauthoriseduse,dataintegrityprotection,connectivity
protection,andactivityloggingandauditingareexamplesofcommoncybersecuritymethods
foreseentobeneeded.Althoughsomepartsoftheprotectionincybersecuritymaybeautomaticthere
isnodoubtthatasufficientamountofresourcesneedtobeallocatedforthispurpose.Inadditionto
thetechnologyimplementationthelevelofcybersecuritywouldobviouslydependoneducationand
theorganizationalcultureguidingperformanceofthepeopleinvolved.
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Occupationalsafetyandhealth
Socialsecurityisatopicthathasseveralmeanings.WithintheframeworkofAAWA,wemayinclude
underitscoversomeissuesrelatedtooccupationalsafety,healthandwell-beingoftheseamenonboardshipsandashore.Inthisareaautonomousandtele-operatedactionsorshipsmayhelpin
avoidingoratleastreducingoccupationalaccidentson-board.Itmaybepossibletoincludemany
differentsecuritymatters,withinter-activefeedbackmechanismsandimpactsamongthelistsofhighlevelinteresttopicsoftheindustrywhennewtechnologyisimplementedon-board.
WithintheframeworkofAAWAsomeissuesalreadyincludede.g.intherelevantconventionsofILO8
mayalsobeseenasindirectproactivemeasuresagainstcyberthreats.Awide,holisticviewmaybring
newaspectsandpointsofviewintodiscussion.Althoughadeeperanalysisofsocialsecurityisleftout
ofthescopeofthisstudy,itmustberecognisedthatmanydifferentconceptsofsocialsecurityofthe
maritimecommunityandsocietyexist,andmanyofthemareofteninterconnected.
4.4
Cargomanagement
Inconventionalships,thefirstofficerandshipmasterareinchargeofacceptingthecargoandits
loadingintothecargospaces.Lackofpermanentcrewon-boardtheautonomousshipswould
emphasisetheroleofportoperatorsinacceptingthecargoandassuringthatitiscorrectlyloadedand
stowedon-boardinaccordancewithshippingregulationsandtheshipspecificcargomanual.
Furthermore,inunmannedshipsandshipsunderremotecontrolpossibleactionstotakeanycargo
relatedmeasuresatseaaremorelimitedthaninconventionalships,ifnoextraequipmentfacilitating
additionalmeasures,e.g.foradditionalcargomonitoring,securingorcontrol,areprovided.
Incaseofautonomousships,assuranceofproperinitialstatusofthecargofortheforeseenseatrip
wouldrelymainlyonthelongshoremen.Thiscouldincreasetheriskofcargorelatedincidents,asitis
believedthatcrewmembersandofficerssailingon-boarddohaveadeeperpersonalinteresttoensure
thatcargoloadingandthesecuringworkaresafelydoneandtheequipmentusedarefitforthe
purposeinallconditions.Anyactionstocurecargorelatedproblemsidentifiedon-board,like:cargo
shift,leaks,problemswithmoisture,fireandfloodingarelimitedtothosethatcanbehandledeither
byautomationortele-operation.
4.5
Managingemergencies
Lackoftrainedcrewmemberson-boardcouldbeexpectedtoincreasetheriskoffailureincopingwith
emergencysituationsthatcanbeencounteredduringvoyages.Decreasedcrewsizemaycreatea
8
International Labour Organization (ILO), see e.g. Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) (with entry into
force: 20 Aug 2013), or the earlier Convention C165.
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higherriskoffailuretohandleemergencieson-boardwhenactionsareneeded.Capabilityofspecific
promptresponseactionsinsituorevacuationofthevessel,ifneeded,hasraisedstrongdoubtsonthe
autonomousoperationconceptbeingapplicableatall.
Howtheshipcanassistinemergencysituationsrelatedtoothershipsisanotherquestionwithseveral
uncertaintiesduetothelimitationinthecurrentlyavailabletechnicalspecification.Emergency
situationsincludeawideareaofpotentialoperationsthatneedtobediscussedinmoredetailwhen
detailedsolutionsareavailable.
However,althoughreducingthecrewsizemightresultindiminishedcapabilitytoassistothershipsin
emergencysituationsbyhands-onhelp,theautomatedshipscouldhavealternativepositive
contributionstoemergencymanagement.Astudysuggeststhat,thankstoincreasedsensordata,the
automatedshipscouldreproduceinformationtoauthoritiesifneeded.Videoandsensordatacouldbe
transmitteddirectlytovesseltrafficmonitoringservices,whichcouldbehelpfulinincreasing
authorities’situationalawarenessinemergencies.
5.
Managingshippingsafetyandsecurityinshortandlongterm
Managementofshipsafetyandsecurityintheshorttermmaybeseenmainlyasaprocessthat
requireshavingspecificwell-definedsystematicproceduresappliedintheclassificationandapproval
processes.Suchprocessesaresufficientforassuringsafetyandsecurityofsuchships.However,there
mayalsoappearneedstobeabletoactinunforeseensituations.Whentheoperationofanew,large
andsafety-criticalsystem,suchasamerchantshipisconsideredtobeallowedforevenalimiteduse,a
precautionaryprincipleissuggestedtobefollowed.Whenthesystemcanpassallthechecksandtests
understoodnecessarytoconfirmitssafetyandsecurity,asteptowardsamorecomplicatedsystemor
useinadifferentenvironmentmaybeconsidered.
Intheshorttermthemistakesmadebyautonomoussystemsmaybestillattributedtohumans,asthe
softwareisplannedandproducedbyhumans.However,controlsmustbeinplacetoensurethatno
badorerroneousinformationordistortedideasofthefunctionalitiesorenvironmentalconditionsare
used.
Inthelongertimeperspective,managementofsafetyofautonomousshipscouldbeexpectedthrough
IMOregulationsandconventionsbeingadaptedtobetterencompassalsoautonomousmodesofship
operationandtheassociatedsafetyrisks.Theinitialrisk-basedapproachesforapprovalcouldbe
expectedtodevelopintostandardisedprescriptiveandgoal-basedrequirementstoguidethedesign
andimplementationofautonomousfeaturesonshipsandtheonshorecontrolcentres.Safety
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
managementshouldbedirectedtoacomprehensive,holisticviewextendedtoaspectsandissues
relatedthefulllife-cycleoftheautonomousship.
5.1
Qualificationofnewtechnologiesforuse
Qualificationofnewtechnologies,suchasICTsystemstoenableautonomousortele-operatedships,
forcommercialusecanbeoutlinedasastep-wiseprocess.Smallstepsthatgraduallybuildup
confidenceinthenewtechnologyproposedwithcontinuousimprovementsensuringthatitfulfilsthe
requirementsidentifiedforsafeoperation.Implementationofnewtechnologycanbeseenasa
learningprocessduringitswholelifetime.
Currentlyinternationallyagreedconventions,suchasSOLAS(i.e.SafetyofLifeatSea),specifythe
minimumstandardsfortheconstruction,equipmentandoperationofshipsconsideredtoenablesafe
operationtogetherwithsuchcodesandregulationsasCOLREG9,ISM10andSTCW11etc.These
standardsincludeprescriptiverequirementsonstructuraldesign,specificequipment,sizeand
qualificationsofcrew,etc.,compliancetowhichneedstobeproofedforeachindividualship.Deviation
fromanyprescriptiverequirementrequirestheshipownertodemonstratewithsufficientevidence
thattheproposeddeviationisatleastassafeastheinitialrequirementintheconsideredservice.
Basedonsuchdocumentedevidenceonunaffectedorreducedsafetyrisk,theFlagstatecanthenissue
anexemptionpermitforthedeviantsolutioninaparticularshipandservice.
Thesafetyassuranceprocessforaproposedalternativesolutionneedstostartwithathorough
descriptionoftheshipoperations,bothnormalandabnormal,onwhichtheproposedsolutionis
foreseentobeinvolved,followedbyidentificationofhazardsandothersafetyissuesconsidered
relevanttotheseoperations.Therole,capabilitiesandlimitationsoftheproposedsolutionin
controllingthehazardsandcontributingtotheriskofaccidentsthenneedstobethoroughlyidentified
andassessedtoproduceasuitablebodyofevidencetosupporttheargumentofsafetyequivalenceof
thealternativesolution.The‘standard’solutionscompliantwiththeprescriptiverequirements
providethebaselineforriskcomparison.
Autonomousortele-operatedshipsrepresentamajortechnologicalandoperationalchangewitha
numberofuncertaintiesregardingtheirsafetyinoperation,andnorelevantfielddatacurrently
availabletosupporttheirapprovalforcommercialuse.Wellplanneddemonstratorstudies,carried
outinitiallyatspeciallyplannedsimulatorsettings,andlateron-boardactualseagoingvesselsare
seenasthewayforwardforlearningandbuildinggraduallytheevidenceandconfidenceonsafetyof
9
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (Colregs)
International Safety Management Code
11
Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers
10
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suchshipsandtheoperatingconcepts.Obviouslydemonstratorstudieson-boardactualvesselsneed
tostartwithlimitedscopeandendeavour,andhavingacompetentcrewon-boardasabackupand
readyfortakeoverthecontrolincaseofseriousproblems.Theshorecontrolcentre(SCC)work
processesconstitutesanotherareaoftheautonomousshipsysteminwhichdemonstratorstudiesare
seennecessary.
5.2
Managingtherisksduringtechnologytransition
Duetothenatureofshippingindustry,thetransitionfromthecurrentconventionalconceptsin
marinetransportationtoastagedominatedbyautonomous,unmannedshipsisexpectedtotakeplace
slowly,andhasbeenclaimedtorequireatleastacoupleofdecades.Duringthisperiodtherewouldbe
amixtureofvesselswithdifferentlevelsofautonomyoperatingatsea.Intheworstcase,thismaylead
tounexpectedbehaviourofsomesystems,hazards,and,consequentlyrisks.
Oneimportantaspectinthetechnologytransitionisthemanagementofmaintenanceandrepairof
systems,andensuringonlyas-plannedinteractionsbetweene.g.subsequentsoftwaregenerations.
Thewell-performedmanagementwithstandardisedroutinesofup-to-datedocumentationisan
importantpartandfeatureofthesystemicapproach.Theareasofresponsibilityshouldalwaysbe
clearduringallphasesofthetechnologicaltransition.
5.3
Obtainingandmaintainingoperatorskills
ItisclearthatanupdatedtrainingregimeofSTCW(StandardsofTraining,CertificationandWatchkeepingforSeafarers)willbeneeded,beforeanyfurtherstepsaremadetoallowcrewreductions.The
crewmembersneedtobetrainedinanycasetofulfilallfunctionaltasksandcapabilitiesleftforthe
crewinautonomousships.Itisnotquitecleartoushowthiswillaffectthecrewlists,butatleastin
thebeginningthereisanimportantphase,whentheautomaticoftele-operatedoperationsneedtobe
observedandsupervisedon-board.
SimilartypeofrequirementsasinSTCWmayeventuallyhavetobedevelopedforpersonsoperating
shipsremotely.ItisrecommendedthatpersonsworkingintheShoreControlCentres(SCCs)are
requiredtohaveasufficientamountofexperiencerelatedtosimilarships,i.e.withregardto
dimensions,deadweightandpowerandtheirrelations.Theserequirementsofcompetence,
knowledgeandunderstanding,basedonhands-ontraininginseaserviceandsimulators,shouldbe
clearlyhigherforthesupervisorsintheSCCs.
Goodskillsareneededinsafetycriticalandchallengingsituations.Thereareseveralissuestobe
consideredinobtainingandmaintainingtheoperatorskillsforremoteoperationtasks.Manualskills
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weakenwhentheyarenotused,thatis,itcouldbeproblematiciftheoperatorusuallyonlymonitors
theshipsandattimestakescontrol.Inremotemonitoringchallengingsituationsseldomhappen,yet
highlevelofcapabilitywouldbeneededinchallengingsituationsinparticular.Workingknowledge
canonlybeachievedthroughrepeateduseofthesystemandiftheworkmainlyinvolvesmonitoring,
thismightnotbepossible.Inthemaritimecontext,thevesselsareusuallyallmoreorlessdifferent.
Theoperatorwouldnotneedtolearntheparticularitiesofalloftheships,butatleastboththeoretical
andpracticalknowledgeandunderstandingofthemaincauseandeffectrelationsandtheirvariations
duetothepeculiaritieswouldbeadvisable.
Overall,welldesignedsimulatortrainingwouldbeneededforpracticingchallengingsafetycritical
situations.Thisisnotunproblematic,since,atleastinprinciple,thesimulatorcannotpresent
unimaginablesurprisingsituations.Creatingchallengingsituationsdemandscreativityand
understandingofmaritimeaccidentsfromthedevelopersoftraining.Theoperatorswouldneedto
havesufficienttrainingdaysatthesimulator,wherethesesurprisingandchallengingsituationswould
takeplace.Debriefingafterthesimulatorsessionsisimportantandneedtobedesignedaswell.In
debriefing,theoperatorshouldbeabletoevaluatehisorherownperformanceandhencewouldlearn
fromsuccessesaswellasfromfailures.Oneoptionistoshowanddiscussvideoclipsofoperators’
actionsduringsafetycriticalsituationsatthesimulator.
5.4
User-centreddesignandvalidationoftheshorecontrolcentreoperation
Inviewofsafety,itisessentialforthedesignofgoodremoteoperationandmonitoringsystemstodo
fieldstudiesonactualmaritimeactivityonregularships.Thestudiedconventionalshipsshould
performthesametasksasthenewunmannedshipswouldactualize.Welldonefieldstudiesallow
understandingsafetycriticalaspectsofworkandmeansformaintainingsafety.Task-analysesbased
onthefieldstudiesallowunderstandingofwhataspectsinactivityshouldbeleftfortheautomation
andalarmsandwhatshouldbemonitoredbyothermeans.Fieldstudiescanalsorevealsurprising
safety-relevantaspectsfromworkers’activities.Knowledgeoftheseallowstakingtheminto
considerationindesign.
Afterdesigningandimplementingthesystem,validationthatittrulyworksaswantedisessential.In
othersafetycriticaldomains,suchasinnuclearpowerplantoperation,thisinvolvescontrastingthe
findingsfromtestingthesystemtosafetystandardsanddemands.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
6.
Buildingriskunderstandingforthefuture
Asasteptowardstheeraofautonomousmaritimetraffic,theFinnishAAWAprojectaimstomakeits
shareinbuildinguptheawarenessandunderstandingonsafetyandsecurityrisksrelevanttothe
envisionedautonomousconcepts,andthemeasuresneededtomanagetheseriskseffectively.
Basedoninitialidentificationofhazardsandriskscarriedoutontheconceptofunmannedship,a
numberofriskissueshavebeenpointedoutthatcouldbeproblematicintermsofsafetyorsecurity,
buttowhichwehaveconfidencethateffectivesolutions,riskcontroloptions,canbefoundwith
properlyfocusedandsystematictestingandresearch.Ontheotherhand,thenewconceptsof
operationandthetechnologiesaimedtofacilitateitincorporateissuesthatweknowtoentail
elementsofrisk,buttheseriousnessandthecomplexityoftheriskiscurrentlylargelyunknowntous.
Finally,characteristictoanynoveltechnologyinitsinfancy,wecanassumethatsomeriskissuescould
yetbehiddenorvaguetous.
Theriskknowledgewillbebuiltupgraduallythroughcomprehensiveanalyses,simulatorstudies,
pilotdemonstratorstudiesexecutedonactualseagoingvesselswithsomethoroughlyconsidered
restrictions,andfinallyincommercialuse.Consequently,inthefollowingphasesofAAWAproject,the
mainemphasisregardingsafetyandsecurityissueswillbeplacedon:
systematicriskidentificationandassessmentfocusingonbothdesignandoperation
•
interactionsandprocesses;
•
assuranceofcyber-security;
•
validationofalgorithmsforautonomousnavigation,includingobstacledetectionandcollision
avoidance,andassuranceofeachcorrespondingsoftware,andtheirsafeinteractions,by
analysisandsimulations;
user-centreddesignandvalidationofshorecontrolcentreoperations;
•
Asidefromtheseeffortstoimproveknowledgeonrelevantsafetyandsecurityrisksandtheircontrol,
comprehensiveSafetyCasedocumentationwillbecompiledinAAWAfortheplannedfield
demonstratorcase(s)tosupportapprovaloftheexemptionsneededfromthenationalmaritimesafety
authoritiesforcarryingoutthedemonstratorstudies.
7.
Recommendations
BasedontheworkcarriedoutsofarintheAAWAInitiativethefollowingrecommendationscanbe
made:
•
Remoteandautonomousshipsshallbemadeatleastassafeasexistingvesselswithsufficient
confidence,takingintoaccountrelevantuncertainties,e.g.environmentalconditionsand
disturbances
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Astheshareofuncertaintyandriskmaygrowatleastinthebeginning,whenmovingtowardshigher
levelsofautomatedroutines,thetargetlevelofsafetymustbesetactuallyhigherthanthecurrentone.
Thereissomepotentialtoreducehumanbasederrors,butatthesametimesomenewtypesof
hazardsandriskmayariseandwillneedtobeaddressed,e.g.intheareaofcybersecurity.
•
Progressonlybysmallandcautioussteps
Applicationofthisprecautionaryprinciplemeansacarefulandsystematicapproachinrisk
assessment,design,deploymentandoperations.Thisrequiresincreasingknowledgeand
understandingbyresearchinthe‘unchartedareas’of‘unknown’.Additionally,itisimportanttolisten
toallrelevantstakeholders,improvedisseminationandflowofinformation,inordertoavoid
unacceptableriskandtoconfirmsafety.
•
Co-operativeactionsareneededtodevelopinternationalstandardsandguidelinesforthe
maritimeindustry,preferablyinco-operationwithinIMO
Internationalco-operationbetweenthenationaladministrations,classificationsocietiesandother
relevantbodieswithinterestinthefieldtoutilizetheglobalmaritimeknowledgeunderthewide
umbrellaofIMOisrecommendedforthefurtherdevelopment.
Co-operationisnecessarytobeabletocreateacommongroundforacoherent,safeapproachwhen
layingoutthefirstsketchesofprinciplestobefollowedintheprocedurestobeusedguidingand
controllingthetechnicalandoperationalsafetyofautonomousandtele-operatedships.Itwillbeeven
moreimportantifandwhenthefurthernewtechnologicalartefacts,likeautonomousandteleoperatedshipsstarttointeractwiththeoperationalenvironmentofthemaritimesociety.
Maritimesafetyandsecurityisaverywideanddeepconceptualtopic.Itcanbedividedinmany
sectors,includinge.g.shipsafety,cargosafety,maritimetrafficsafety,environmentalsafety,
occupationalsafetyandsecurity.Therecommendationsabovearepresentedonaverygenerallevelin
anearlyphaseoftheprogressanddevelopmentofautonomousships.Therefore,itmustbe
underlinedthattheaboverecommendationsarenotall-encompassing.ItisbelievedthatAAWA
Initiativeactsinchangingshipping,butnotinisolationfromthewholemaritimesectorandsociety.
ThelatterhavemanyfeaturesandactorsgivingfeedbacktoandshapingAAWA,too,tosomeasyet
unknownamount.So,thedevelopmentofthenewtechnologywilloccurinmanyinteractions,known
tobetypicalforthesocialconstructionofallsignificanttechnologies.Allthisneedstobetakeninto
account,whensafeandsecuretechnology,dependingbothondesignandoperationisdeveloped.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Business
JouniSaarni,DevelopmentManager,TurkuSchoolofEconomics,Universityof
Turku
SiniNordberg-Davies,DoctoralCandidate,TurkuSchoolofEconomics,
UniversityofTurku
HannuMakkonen,Docent,SeniorResearchFellow,TurkuSchoolofEconomics,
UniversityofTurku
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
FromInnovationstoMarkets–RedefiningShipping
1.Redefiningshipping–atransitiontoautonomousshipping
Autonomoustechnologieswhichenhanceself-guidingcapabilitiesoftechnicalsystemshavereceiveda
considerableamountofattentioninvariousdifferentindustries.Themarinesectorisnowfollowing
suit.Whiletheconceptofacompletelyautonomousshipmaybecontroversial,itisnevertheless
undeniablethattheshippingsectorisfacingconsiderablechangesasdigitalisationgraduallysweeps
overthetechnologicallandscape.Thetechnologicalchangeisconnectedtoasocialone,astheAAWA
slogan“redefiningshipping”suggests;autonomousshippingisnotmerelyabouttechnologybutalso
abouttherespectivesocialchange.Figure1synthesisesthekeyelementsintoaperspectiveon
autonomousshippingintheAAWAproject.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
Single
innovations
Combinatory
innovations
NEW
NEEDS
TECHNOLOGICAL
OPPORTUNITIES
Systemic
innovation
SOCIAL CHANGE
Figure1.AAWA–Redefiningshipping
Thecentralpanelofthefiguredescribesthelevelsofinnovationforautonomousshipping:single
innovations,combinatoryinnovations,systemicinnovation.Thesingleinnovationsrepresentthe
productinnovationscreatedfromkeytechnologies,forexample,cameras,radars,andothertypes
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
ofsensorsthatcompriseacombinatoryinnovationofasituationalawarenesssystem(seeArthur
2009).OthersuchtechnicalcombinationstobedevelopedinAAWAincludee.g.navigationalsystems
orcommunicationslinks.Thesekindsofbuildingblockscomprisethekeytechnologyareasfor
systemicinnovation,i.e.theconceptofanautonomousship.TheoutskirtsofFigure1describe
technologicalandsocialchangesthatcompriseamutuallyfeedingloop:technologicaldevelopment
producestechnologicalopportunities,whereassocialchangealtersthesociallandscapegenerating
newneeds.Themutuallyreinforcinginterplaybetweenthetechnologicalandsocialchangeproducesa
socio-technicaltransitionthatdescribesastateinwhichthenewtechnologicalopportunitiesand
thoserelatedneedsarematerialisedintopracticeandputintouse.Forexample,containerisationas
wellasthedevelopmentfromsailstosteamenginesandfurthertodieselenginesdescribessuch
socio-technicaltransitionsinthemaritimesector(seeGeels2002).*
L essons lear ned from p ast socio -techn ical tr ansit ion s
* The past socio-technical transitions in the maritime sector have some joint similarities. Firstly, the transition usually
lasts a long period of time, often decades. Ships have large long-term investments involved and they are constantly a
part of transportation functions of world trade. Secondly, the transition typically begins from small special markets.
Some combinations of tasks, cargo and routes fit well with the novel technologies that are emerging in the beginning of
the transition. Thirdly, it is typical in a transition phase that the old existing regime and new entrants co-exist at the
same time and compete. Later, market selection occurs favouring a so-called dominant design from different
technological alternatives (see Murmann & Frenken 2006).
When the selected technology diffuses within markets and users it also causes social impacts. More concrete targets are
the needed infrastructure and service networks for e.g. maintenance. Also regulations and policies might face changes as
well as industry structures. More vaguely traceable are institutional and cultural dimensions on routines, practices and
mind-sets. (Geels 2005.)
Taking the history of containerisation as an example, the social factors were of the utmost importance. Containers and
container ships were technologically rather straightforward. More importantly, they were process and organizational
innovations. The idea of using containers to streamline the loading and unloading was already variously experimented
during the 1950s. However, true utilisation of them needed a change in thinking from operating ships to
transportation chains. As a consequence, shipping and port operations became more capital-intensive. This provoked
social resistance, and contractual negotiations on container sizes and standards took many years. It took over a decade
until the late 1960s for the first purpose-built containerships to be completed. After this, containers’ diffusion in
shipping companies and ports with related investments and practice-building lasted for several decades. (Levinson
2006).
Figure1connectsthelevelsofinnovationwiththetechnologicalandsocialchangeintwoways:
1. Theongoingtechnologicaldevelopment(digitalisation,theinternetof
things,autonomousdrivingetc.)andrespectivesocialchangeinwhich
thesetechnologiesbecomesociallyacceptedanddesiredfeedthe
innovationactivityinthefieldofautonomousshipping(thespinofthe
outercircleacceleratesthespinoftheinnovationgears).
2. Theinnovationactivitiesforautonomousshippingacceleratethe
“Allthispositive
publicityand
enthusiasmthatyoucan
seearoundGooglecar
etc.ishelpingour
effortsinthemaritime
sector.”
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
technologicalandsocialchangeingeneral(thespinofthegearsacceleratesthespinoftheouter
circle),andthusreinforcethecross-industrialsocio-technicaltransitiontowardsautonomous
technologiesandtheirapplicationinthesociety.
Thebusinessmodelsofthekeyactorsintheshippingsectormediatetheconnectionbetweenthe
innovationactivitiesandthetechnologicalandsocialchange.Theinnovationactivityisdependenton
theextenttowhichthekeyactorsperceivebusinessopportunitiesregardingautonomousshipping.
Thisisagainrelatedtotheissueofhowotherkeyactorswillbemobilisedtothetopic,andwhatkind
ofrelationshipsandnetworksaretoemergetoadvancethetechnologicalandsocialchange.Thus,
autonomousshippingislargelyasocialissueinwhichtheprevailingnormsandroutinesofthe
shippingbusinessthatpromotestagnationaretobeovercome.Furthermore,onasocietalleveldigital
solutionsneedtobeseenasmeasuresforimprovingthequalityoflifeinsteadofthreateningit.Based
onthefindingsofthefirstphaseoftheAAWAproject,autonomousshippingisnotaquestionof
whetherornot,butratheraquestionofwhen.
2.Autonomousshipping–anissueofbusinessrelationshipsandnetworks
Duetoitssystemicnature,theemergenceofautonomousshippingisfirstandforemostanissueof
managingtherelevantrelationshipsandnetworks(Håkansson&
Snehota,1995;Håkansson,Ford,Gadde,Snehota,&Waluszewski,
2009),andtheecosystemsbasedonthese.Intermsoftechnology,
theshifttowardsaneraofautonomousshippingrequires
convergenceoftherelevanttechnologies.Similarly,intermsof
themarketsideforautonomousshippingthisshiftrequiresthat
autonomousshippingisperceivedtodelivertheexpected
“Increasingly,allthese
systemsarediscussingwith
eachothersomuchthatthe
discussionisnolonger
betweentwosystems,butall
systems.Andthisrequiresa
certainlevelofnetworking.
Butonwhatlevel?It’snota
simplisticsituationinfact.”
benefits:onthemicrolevel;seafarersexperiencethattheir
workingconditionsareimproved,onthemesolevel;marineindustryplayersseecost,efficiencyand
safetygains,andonthemacrolevel;thesocietybenefitsfromtheredivisionofworkandlowered
emissions.Thecombinatorialdevelopmentbetweentechnologiesandmarketswithinthemarine
industryoccursinconjunctionwithsimilardevelopmentinotherrelevantindustries(e.g.automotive
andaviation),thataltogethercompriseacross-sectoralautonomoustechnologiesecosystem(as
describedinFigure2).Technologicalinnovationsandthedawnofthenewconceptofautonomous
shippingmotivatestheactorstodevelopnewbusinessmodelsandfurther,newbusinessmodelswith
intentionalactivitiestogeneratecommerciallyviableapplicationsfeedthetechnologiestodevelopas
describedinFigure2.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Figure2:Thenetworksandrelationshipsforautonomousshippingbusiness
Figure2describestheautonomousshippingbusinesstoemergeasaresultofmatchingevolvingneeds
andevolvingtechnologieswithinstrategicrelationships,localnetworksfortechnologyplatforms,and
globalnetworksfornewmarkets.Currently,thedevelopmentofsuitabletechnologiesforautonomous
shippingtakesplacelargelyinstrategicrelationships;businessactorsdevelopsolutionstoservetheir
currentbusinessintheirkeyrelationships.Thiscanbeexemplifiedbyasatellitecommunicationsfirm
workingwithcurrentsuppliersandcustomerstoachievesafercommunicationlinks,oravideo
technologyfirmworkingwithalgorithmspecialiststodevelopthecomputationalpowerofvideo
cameras.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Secondly,industry-levellocalnetworksexistinwhichactorshavecometogethertobuildtheconcept
ofautonomousshippingintentionally,asexemplifiedbydevelopmentnetworkssuchasAAWA.These
localnetworkstrulybegintoquestiontheprevailing,traditionallogicofshippingandaimatanew
dominantlogicbyprovidingatechnologyplatform,onwhichfuturedevelopmentcantakeplace
(compareFrenken2000).Whiletheactorsinalocalnetworkmayhaveexpectationsforshort-term
returnsbasedonsingleinnovations,autonomousshippingtrulybecomesadrivingforcefor
innovationinlocalnetworks.Thisdevelopmenttowardsautonomoussolutionshasprogressedfurther
inotherrelevantindustries.Forexample,theautomotiveindustryhasforalongtimedeveloped
technologies(e.g.cameras,radar,ultrasonicsensors)thatformthebasisforintentionalactivitiesto
developandlaunchautonomousdrivingplatforms,suchasthoseofGoogleandTesla.Thesecurrently
representlocalnetworksbutaretransformingtowardsglobalnetworksnotonlycomprising
development,butalsoproductionanduseofcommerciallyviableapplications.
Itisonlywhenotheractors,e.g.customersandotherstakeholdersinthelogisticschain,understand
theapplicabilityofautonomousshippingfortheirneeds,thedevelopmentofautonomousshipping
becomesamatterofincreasedvalueinsteadofafeatofengineering.Atthispoint,thelocalnetworks,
i.e.hotspotsofautonomousshipping,graduallygainmomentumandscaletogenerateglobal
networksengagedintothedevelopmentandoperationofautonomousshipping.Itisintheseglobal
networksthatautonomousshippingeventuallyevolvesintothenewdominantform,i.e.redefine
shipping.
3.Autonomousshipping–arenewedsetofrolesbetweenthekeyactors
Autonomousshippingwillleadtoanewkindofrole-setanddivisionofworkbetweentheactorsinthe
shippingsector.Someoftheserolesareplayedbythetraditionalplayersandsomebynewentrants.
Forautonomousshippingtherewillbenewfunctionsandrespectiveactorswhospecialisein
technologiesenablingthesefunctions,e.g.aremotecontrolcentreoperatorandanautonomous
systemsintegrator.Eachactormustconsidertheirpositioninthemarketrelativetotheotherplayers,
meaningthatactorsshapetheirbusinessmodelsaccordingly.Holdingakeypositioninthetechnology
platformforthenewdominantlogicofautonomousshippingiscrucialforcompetitiveadvantage
(Makkonen,Vuori,Puranen,2016).Asglobalnetworksemerge,moreandmoreactorsengagebothin
thetechnologicalframeworkaswellasusageinautonomousshipping.Thiswillaltertheprevailing
structuresandprocessesoftheshippingindustryinitsentirety.Inotherwords,theautonomousshift
willnotonlystreamlinetechnology-relatedoperationsbutmorewidelyfacilitateacriticalevaluation
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
andreorganisationofthewaytheshippingbusinessoperates.
Figure3Therenewedsetofrolesfortheautonomousshippingbusiness
Figure3describesthepossibleentranceofnewactorsaswellasthechangeoftherolesofthecurrent
actorsintheshippingbusiness.Theincreasingintelligencethatcomesalongwithautonomous
shippingislikelyto1)bringinnewactorstothefieldofautonomousshippingbusinessaswellas2)
bringinadifferentphilosophyintermsofmaintenanceandservicefunctions.Intermsoftheformer,
newtechnologiesdevelopandtechnologicalpotentialmaterialisesinapplicationsoriginallydeveloped
inotherareas,whichcanservetheemergenceofautonomousshipping,asdemonstratedbye.g.the
developmentofdroneaircraftandsemiconductors.Intermsofthelatter,evenafterthedesignand
productionofanautonomousship,newcapabilitiescanbeaddedduetothedigitalnatureofkey
systems.Inthissense,theonceproducedsolutionsandsystemsareneverreallycomplete(Yooetal.
2012),andthusthenetworkofactorsandfunctionsarelikelytobeincontinuousevolution.
4.Transitiondriverstoautonomousshipping
Theanticipatedbenefitsandchallengesofautonomousshippingtobusinessescanbebroadlyviewed
fromtheperspectivesofshippingcompanies,existingmaritimesystemandservicesuppliers,and
possiblenewsuppliersenteringthemarket.
Fromtheperspectiveofshippingcom panies,indiscussionswith
theindustrybothdirectcost-reducingbenefitsandotherindirect
benefitshavebeenpointedout.Thedirectbenefitsareoftenlistedina
“Theindustryneedsnowto
startsearchingfor
assignmentswherean
autonomousshippaysoff
exceptionallywell.”
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
vessellevelasmoreefficientuseofspaceinshipdesign,moreefficientuseofcrewandtheirskills,and
moreefficientuseoffuel.Shippingcompaniesarealsolikelytobenefitandseenewrevenuesfrom
tailoringtransportationchainswithautonomousapplicationsaswellasfromincreasedcargospaceon
theship.Indirectbenefitsareactualisedmoreinacompanyandnetworklevelsoftheshippingsector.
Autonomousshippingallowsimprovedoptimisationofoperationsandprocesses.Forexample,
optimisingoperationsbasedonreal-timedataenableseconomiesofscaleatfleet(orcompany)level,
andreducesthelikelihoodofhumanerrorscontributingbothtosafetyandservicequality.TheAAWA
teamseesthattheseindirectbenefitsarethekeyforgaininglong-termcompetitiveadvantagesfrom
autonomousshipping.
Radicallyrethinkingoperationswithremoteandautonomoussystemsisdeemedtobehinderedby
thecurrentregulatoryenvironment,causinguncertaintyintermsofbeingamongthefirsttoengagein
autonomousshipping.Modifyingregulationforremoteandautonomousshippingisabroadtask
becauseitisacombinationofbothnationalandinternationalrules.Nevertheless,rulesreflectthe
socialopinions,andifautonomousshippingisseentoofferbenefits,itwillgraduallychallengethe
prevailingrules.
Fromtheperspectiveofm aritim esystem andservicesuppliers,autonomousshippingcan
bringmorepossibilitiesindesigningforimprovedshipefficiency.Supplierscanalsobenefitfrom
significantnewbusinessopportunitiesparticularlyregardingdata-relatedservices.Byengaginginthe
developmentofautonomousapplications,supplierswillgainnewcapabilities,whichcanbeleveraged
bothinfindingnewbusinessopportunitiesaswellas
improvingandbuildingupontheirexistingofferingsinthe
shortterm.Thislearningisenhancedbytheincreasingcrosssectoralcooperationthatistakingplacearoundautonomous
“Personally,thefirm,the
community,theindustry,the
society,everyonebenefits
fromexchangingexperiences
andthoughtsonsomelevel.”
shipping.Knowledgeandskillsaswellastechnologiestravel
acrossindustryborders,whichsupportstheemergenceofautonomoussystemsnotonlyinthe
maritimesectorbutalsoine.g.theautomotiveandaviationsectors.Theinnovationeffortsofmaritime
systemandservicesuppliersaregraduallysupportedbytherelatedsocietalacceptanceof
autonomoussystemsoverall.Furthermore,regulatorybodiesindifferingflagstatesarealsoshowing
increasinginterestinbackingthecreationofcooperativenetworksthatpursuethedevelopmentof
autonomousshipping.
However,thecurrentregulatoryenvironmentcanbeanobstaclefordevelopingnewbusiness
solutionsinparticulararoundremotecontrol.Whileremotecontrolisregardedasanareawithhigh
potentialforrethinkingoperationswithoutmuchcompetition,thereasonforlowlevelsofcompetition
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
comesdowntoregulationsgoverningcertainpracticesthatcouldotherwisebehandledremotely.
Questionsarealsoraisedwhethertheconservativenaturedmaritimeindustrywouldbereadyto
adoptautonomoustechnologieswiththesamespeedastheybecomeavailable.Also,autonomous
shippingisrecognisedtohaveamajorimpactonthebusinessmodelsofsupplierswhosecurrent
modelsarebuiltaroundtheshippingoperationsoftoday.Reluctancetochangetheprevailingbusiness
modelsmayhindertheemergenceofautonomousshipping.Lastly,uncertaintysurroundingliability
issuesneedstoberesolvedbeforecommercialisationofautonomoussolutionsispossible.Thus,
leapingintothebusinessofautonomousshippingwouldrequirecertaintyoftheinsurers’willingness
tocooperate.
Autonomousshippingcanpavethewayfornewsupplierstoentertheindustry,inparticularfrom
sectorswherethenecessaryhardwareandsoftwaretechnologies(e.g.differenttypesofsensors,data
analyticsetc.)arealreadyinuse.Forthesetypesofentrants,autonomousshippinghasthepotentialto
uncovernewglobalmarketsinshipping.Increasedshipintelligenceopensupnewservice
opportunitiesinparticularforsuppliersspecialisingindataandsoftware.Atthedawnofadigitalera,
theindustryislikelytoseethearrivalofastartupsceneenrichingtheindustry’ssoftwarecapabilities.
Furthermore,duetolowerdemandsforreactiontime,ashipcanbealessdemandingplatformforthe
performanceofmanysystems,incomparisontoe.g.carsandairplanes,makingshippingamore
lucrativesectorfordevelopmentefforts.
Despitetheopportunitiesthatautonomousshippingcanprovidenewsuppliers,shippingis
neverthelessatoughbusinessenvironmenttoenterinto.Forexample,certainequipmentdeveloped
foruseonlandmayfacedurabilityissuesatseaifnotadaptedto
theseaconditions.Itmaybedifficulttoentertheindustryasa
newplayerduetotheinvestmentrequiredtogetallthe
equipmentapprovedtobeabletobringthemonaship,thus
offeringportfoliosforthemaritimesectorneedtobecarefully
“It’saveryconservative
industry,sobeforeyouhave
establishedanameandtrust
onthecustomerside,ittakes
alongtime.”
planned.Also,buildingbusinessrelationshipsintheconservativeindustrymaybealengthy
endeavour.Furthermore,themarineindustrycouldbeconsideredtobecompetingforknowledgeable
suppliersagainstotherindustriesthataremoreadvancedintheirstepstowardsautonomy,andthus
commercialisationofsolutions.Themaritimeindustryisatadisadvantageintermsofunitvolumes
whencomparedtotheautomotivesectorinparticular.
5.Transitionroadmap
Basedonfindingsmadeonacademicliteratureoninnovations,marketsandsociotechnicaltransitions
supportedbypreliminaryinterviews,asketchinFigure4wasmadeonhowtheautonomous
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
transitioninthemaritimesectormighttakeplace.Thefigureisnotmeanttobepredictiveordering.
Rather,itisatoolforunderstandingthedifferenttriggersneededforthetransitiontoproceed
forward.ThebasicconceptinFigure4isthatthesocialacceptanceforautonomousshippingaffects
whatinnovationsareadoptedandtakenintouse.Complexsystemicchangesuchasautonomous
shippingcannotbeimmediatelyadoptedasawholebutitisratherapathandachainofinterrelated
events.
Figure4.Transitionroadmaptoautonomousshipping
Atthefirststagethesocietyneedstorecognisethattheconceptofautonomousshippingisatleastin
someformpossibleandimaginable.Societyismeanthereinawidesensecoveringalsotherelevant
industryplayersbutalsoauthoritiesandthegeneralpublic.Toseparatearealisableideafromscience
fictiontherecognitionphaseinvolvesconditionsthatsignalthedifferentactorsthattherearerealistic
underlyingpossibilities.Knowledgefromexistingtechnicalperformancebothinmaritimeandother
sectorsshapestheboundariesofwhatisthoughtaspossible.Existingtechnologieslikedynamic
propulsionsystemsorhigh-speedsatellitecommunicationsgiveatestedgroundonwheretothinkup
morefunctionalities.Professionalsarenaturallymorefamiliarwiththetechnicaldetailsbutashared
understandingofprevailingtechnologicalcapabilitiesneverthelessexistsinthesociety.Recentlythe
automotivesectorhasbeenfeedingnumerousexamplesfromautonomousdevelopment.Besides
technicalaspectslikesensorsitalsobringsupmorecomplexthemesintodiscussion.Therearemore
andmorestoriesonregulationorethicsofrobotics.Herethemediahasanimportantroleinspreading
thewordaroundandchallengingexistingthoughts.Theawarenessand“buzz”isculminatedinthe
formofR&DprojectslikeAAWA.Theirtaskistoexplorethenearbyhangingopportunitiesandtake
stepsforwardinthesectorinquestion.AAWAitselfisoneelementcontributingtorecognitionof
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
autonomousshipping.Wideinterestinautonomousshippingisalreadyshowingthatrecognitionhas
beenprogressingfastanditisnowtimetomoveforwardinthefigure.
Aftertherecognitionsomevisionaryindividuals,theearlyadopterswillseetheconceptalsonotonly
aspossiblebutalsoasdesirable.Astheoriesforsystemicinnovationssuggest,theinnovationsin
shippingfollowanincrementalapproach.Ashipwon’tbemadedirectlyasfullyautonomousbut
ratherinsmallersteps.Firstconcreteofferingsmightforexamplebenewkindsofdecisionsupport
systems.Theywillbebuiltoverexistingofferingsforshipnavigationandmanoeuvring.Aprecondition
forthatisasituationalawarenesssystemthatmustbedevelopedwithsuitablesensorcombinations.A
decisionsupportsystemwillofferabasiclevelofautonomouscapabilitiesforenhancedobservation
andself-guidanceindifferentoperationalscenarios.Evenifitisnotnecessarilyinconflictwiththe
regulation,basedonthesystem’scapabilitiesandperformance,changestonationalregulationmustbe
evaluated,sothatthedecisionsupportsystemcouldbebroughtintomarkets.Animportant
characteristicinautonomousshippingisthatpartialinnovationscreatedhaveagoodchancetospinofftomarketsalreadyalongtheway.
Atathirdstagemoredetailedplanningoccursandinsteadofasingleshipmoreattentionisgivento
managementoftrafficinanautonomousera.Inearlydevelopmentsitistypicalthatmanydifferent
technologicalalternativesemergeandcompetetogether.Eventhoughthisacceleratestechnical
experimenting,atsomepointaneedrisestostandardiseprocedures.Userstendtowantaunified
conceptfortechnologicalartefacts.Thisalsomeansthatpeopleneedtocognitivelyhaveashared
understandingofwhatismeantbytheautonomousshipconcept.Itmustbefairlysimilarastohow
today’sconventionalshipisunderstoodtoholdacertainhomogeneitybetweendifferentships.
Discussionswillstartregardingwhatwillbethestandardsofautonomousshippingindifferent
dimensions.Asthetechnologiesbecomeintowiderusetheremustbesuitableinfrastructureinplace
tosupportit.Shipconnectivitynetworkbasedonsatelliteandshore-basedcommunicationsaretobe
graduallyenlargedtosupporttheautonomoustraffic.Finallystandards,infrastructureandtherising
needfordoingbusinesswiththenewtechnologywillaffectinternationalregulation.Asshippingis
global,thestandardsandrulesmustbeinternationallyagreedupon.Naturallyitisalongprocess,
howeveritisconstantlyreflectedwithnovelapplicationsbroughttobecontestedbythemarketand
bysocialacceptance.
Whentheessentialstandards,rulesandelementsofinfrastructurehavebeensettledthedevelopment
becomesaquestionofexpanding.Therecanbealreadysomespecialmarketnichesthatshowthenew
technologiestoproduceverygoodoutcomes.Thesenichesstarttoexpandintheirownregionsand
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
markets.Graduallysomeregionalseaareaswillbecomeharnessedtohaveafull-scaleinfrastructure
forautonomousoperations.
Inthefinalstageofthefiguretheregionalandniche-specificprocesseswillstarttoaccumulateintoa
globalscale.Autonomousapplicationsdiffuseinsidetheinnovation,reachingapointwhereithasa
significantimpactonglobalshippingandworldtrade(compareGreve2009).Thiswillaltertheroles
andstructurebasedonconventionalshipping.Dataandserviceswillbringmorevaluetocustomers.
Transportationchainswillallowmoreoptimisationandwillbemoretailoredforspecificneedsof
differentindustriesandcustomers.Managementofautonomousfleetsmightconsolidateandglobal
remotecontrolcentresforthesekindsofshipsarebuilt.Ashiftfromproductinnovationstoprocess
innovationsoccurstostartproducingautonomousofferingsmoreefficiently.Onasociallevel,regime
ischanged.Regulation,routinesandpracticesgraduallyincorporatestheautonomousshippingas
takenforgranted.Institutionsofshippingincludethefeaturesandinfrastructurederivedfrom
autonomoustechnologies.
6.Conclusion
Thetransitiontoaneraofautonomousshippingisamorecomplexmatterthanameretechnological
invention.Therealisationofanautonomousshiprequiresaplethoraoftechnologiestobeintegrated
systemically,whichmeansthatcooperationisrequiredbetweenvariousactorswhocanmasterthe
differenttechnologicalareas.However,engaginginsuchinnovativeeffortsmustrealiseabusiness
casefortheactorsinvolved–bothintheshortandlongterm.Thus,benefitsmustberealisedalready
beforeautonomousshippingcanbecomethenorm.Oftenthismeansneworimprovedofferingsinthe
shortterm,whichcanberealisedwiththenewskillsthatactorslearnduringthecooperative
innovationprocess.Assuch,thebusinessaroundautonomousshippingisbuiltiterativelyasaresultof
thecontinuousdevelopmentofsub-componentsthattogethercomprisetheautonomousshipandthe
technologiesneededforitsoperation(e.g.theremotecontrolcentreandcommunications
technologies).Yettheviabilityofthenewbusinessarearequiresactorswhoseinputmakesthe
operationspossible.Theseincludee.g.regulatorybodies,insurers,classificationsocieties,ship
managers,shipowners,shipyards,etc.Moreover,viableshippingbusinessalsorequirescertainnorms
tobebroken,e.g.themarineindustryneedstoovercomeitsconservativenatureifitistobenefitfrom
newsolutions,andthesocietyneedstoacceptdigitalsolutionsasimprovingthequalityoflifeinstead
ofthreateningit.Inotherwords,tofullyrealisethepotentialofautonomousshipping,thedeveloped
technologiesmustbedeemedvaluablebythewidermarineindustryaswellasthesocietyasawhole.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
Table1:Thewayforwardtoautonomousshipping
Table1presentsthewayforwardtoautonomousshipping.Insummary,autonomousshippingis
possiblefromatechnologicalperspective,astherespectiveindustrialnetworksandsuppliersare
increasinglybecomingorganisedtomaketheconceptareality,andthevalueofautonomousshipping
hasbeenrecognisedfordifferentactorsinthemaritimeindustry.Evenissuesregardingtheregulatory
environment,theoftenpointedoutbarriertoautonomousshipping,appeartobesolvableifthereis
politicalwill.Astheelementsforautonomousshippingarecomingtogether,attentionshouldbe
turnedtohowpeopleperceiveautonomousshippinginthesocietyandtheindustry.Autonomous
shippingmustbecomeculturallyrecognised,anditneedstobecomeanappropriatenorminthe
industry.Suchchangesinmind-setsdonothappenovernight,butthereisindicationthatchangeis
takingplaceasattentionandwiderpublicdiscussionaroundautonomousshippingisincreasinglyon
therise.
Toprovidethemaritimeindustrywithfurtherunderstandingofthecomplexphenomenonof
autonomousshipping,researchersatTurkuSchoolofEconomicscontinuetheirworkin2016-2017in
closecooperationwithindustryrepresentatives.Researchwillincludeexploringthewidermarine
stakeholderperspectivesviaastakeholdersurvey,andinvestigatingthenewbusinessmodelsofkey
actorsintheautonomousshippingecosystemthroughworkshops,enrichedbyinsightsfromother
relevantindustriessuchasautomotiveandaviation.
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RemoteandAutonomousShip–Thenextsteps
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AAWA Position Paper © Rolls-Royce plc Registered office: 62 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AT. Company number 1004142. Registered in England
Advanced Autonomous Waterborne
Applications (AAWA) partners
Company Rolls-Royce
Deltamarin
Inmarsat
DNV GL
NAPA
Universities
Aalto / VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland)
Tampere University of Technology / University of Turku
University of Turku
Åbo Akademi / University of Turku
Input
System Integration and Automation Control
Ship Design
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Classification and Regulatory Guidelines
Software House providing solutions for Ship Design and Operation
Input
Safety and Security
Technology Research
Business Aspects
Legal Aspects
AAWA project coordination
Markus Laurinen
markus.laurinen@rolls-royce.com
© Rolls-Royce plc 2016
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