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TESTS ON THE NORTH SEA
For the past two years, the three pilots have participated in the Dutch Joint Industry Project (JIP) Autonomous Shipping. Together with shipping companies, shipbuilders, knowledge institutions, educational institutions, government bodies and other parties, extensive research has been conducted into various different aspects of autonomous shipping by means of fact finding, simulations and field tests. On
the 19th and 20th of March 2019, the latter took place on the North Sea. Three small ships were involved, one of which was completely autonomous. “In eleven different scenarios, the behaviour of this autonomous ship was tested in situations where it had to divert for other shipping traffic,” says Drenth, who was present on the North Sea. “This yielded a lot of valuable input for the researchers.” Via a roadmap for autonomous shipping, the research results of the two-year project have now been made available to the participants (for more information, see the website https://autonomousshipping.nl).
VALUABLE PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE
The three pilots agree that participation in the project was very valuable for determining the policy of the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation for the future. Conversely, the input of the pilots
was valued as well. Schoon: “As pilots, we were actually the only participants that are actively out at sea on a daily basis. We were therefore able to contribute nautical-practical knowledge to the project that researchers often lack. That salt water causes the lens of a camera to close, for example. Or the fact that AIS (Automatic Identification System) is not always reliable, simply because some ships tend to switch off the transponder.” “In any event, connectivity and cyber security are major challenges for future autonomous shipping,” adds Hart. “There is no 5G in the middle of the ocean.”
DIFFICULT BUSINESS CASE
Actual autonomous shipping still has a long way to go, conclude
the three pilots. They do see a potential market for more minor applications such as surveying at sea, mine clearance, ferries on fixed routes, etc in the foreseeable future; deepsea shipping however is a different story. In addition to all the technical and practical challenges and the required changes in international legislation and regulations, the business case constitutes a challenge as well. Drenth: “For a 400-metre long conventional container ship for example, the crew costs only account for two percent of the total costs. The investments in a partially or fully autonomous ship are many times higher. On a charter market that is determined by price, there is no incentive for building such a ship.”
OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PROFESSION OF PILOT
Based on the experiences that they have gained so far, the pilots pri- marily consider autonomous shipping an opportunity for the pilot pro- fession of the future. “The complexity of a port call cannot be captured in systems. Should the time come, then the pilot’s knowledge and skills will only be more valuable. He is right at the heart of the nautical chain and is pre-eminently aware of all the factors around him.”
‘IN ANY EVENT, CONNECTIVITY AND CYBER SECURITY ARE MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE AUTONOMOUS SHIPPING’
FOUR DEGREES OF AUTONOMOUS SHIPPING ACCORDING TO IMO
Ship with automated processes and decision support: Seafarers are on board to operate and control shipboard systems and functions. Some operations may be automated and at times be unsupervised but with seafarers on board ready to take control.
Remotely controlled ship with seafarers on board: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. Seafarers are available on board to take control and to operate the shipboard systems and functions.
Remotely controlled ship without seafarers on board: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. There are no seafarers on board.
Fully autonomous ship: The operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself.
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