The Future of Maritime Trade? Unmanned Ships

The Future of Maritime Trade? Unmanned Ships
Maroosha Muzaffar JAN 20 2019

Although the two offshore vessels were hundreds of miles apart on Dec. 3, 2018 — one off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, the other on a voyage between Parainen and Nauvo in Finland — they were bound by technological innovation: Both set sail without a crew and were operated remotely.

In fact, the offshore vessel in Aberdeen was controlled from 5,000 miles away, in San Diego. The two ships were showcasing what country after maritime country is increasingly turning to as the future of commercial shipping: autonomous and remote-controlled ships.

In September 2017, two Norwegian firms, Yara and Kongsberg, announced plans to build the world’s first fully electric and autonomous container ship, the Yara Birkeland, by 2020. In 2018, Kongsberg teamed with another Norwegian firm, Wilhelmsen, to form the world’s first shipping company dedicated to autonomous vessels. In November, the ferry Folgefonn, also from Norway, underwent successful auto-docking, undocking and dock-to-dock tests, all controlled remotely, demonstrating how autonomously ships of the future might function, even when in port.

In the Netherlands, a consortium of 20 maritime businesses launched a project in December to study and demonstrate the potential of autonomous maritime transport. In Germany, the Fraunhofer Center for Maritime Logistics and Services is designing a remote-control tugboat that could help large, manned ships dock and undock. And the European Commission is co-sponsoring a collaborative project called MUNIN (Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks) that’s developing technology for unmanned vessels.

China’s Maritime Safety Administration and Wuhan University of Technology are developing uncrewed multifunctional maritime ships, the country’s latest step in developing advanced transport solutions. And British automobile giant Rolls-Royce plans to build a remotely operated local vessel by 2020. By 2035, the company aims to launch autonomous, unmanned oceangoing ships.

These plans are altering the face of shipping, shaped for centuries by sailors and explorers whose actions formed the bedrock of trade and transport. But increasingly, say observers and industry insiders, autonomous, unmanned commercial ships represent an unavoidable future — one where human errors can be avoided, financial margins improved because of fewer wages and lower fuel costs for lighter vessels, and the impact on the environment reduced.

“The magnitude of cost-saving potential [when it comes to autonomous and unmanned vessels] is huge,” says Oskar Levander, senior vice president of concepts and innovation at Rolls-Royce Marine.

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