(The Following is an article of theEconomist magazine on “Ghost ships” in 2014)
Military drones alreadyfly frequent missions and civilian operations using unmanned aircraft arecoming. Driverless cars are clocking up thousands of test miles. So why not letremote-controlled ship set sail without a crew? Indeed, the maritime industryhas started to think about what would be required to launch a latter-day MarieCeleste.
Ships, like aircraft and cars, are increasingly controlled by electronic systems,which make automation easier. The bridges of some modern vessels are now morelikely to contain computer screens and joysticks than engine telegraphs and agiant ship's wheel. The latest supply ships serving the offshore oil and gasindustry in the North Sea, for instance, use dynamic positioning systems whichcollect data from satellites, gyrocompasses, and wind and motion sensors toautomatically hold their position when transferring cargo (also done by remotecontrol) to and from platforms, even in the heaviest swells.
However, as is also the case with pilotless aircraft and driverless cars, it isnot so much a technological challenge that has to be overcome before autonomousships can set sail, but regulatory and safety concerns. As in the air and onthe road, robust control systems will be needed to conform to existingregulations.
The maritime industry is interested in crewless ships for two reasons. Thefirst is safety. Most accidents at sea are the result of human error, just asthey are in cars and planes. So if human operators are replaced bysophisticated sensors and computer systems, autonomous vessels should, intheory, make shipping safer.
The second reason is, of course, cost. It is becoming increasingly difficult tosign up competent crew prepared to spend months away at sea. Moreover, somevoyages are likely to get even longer for ships carrying non-urgent cargo. Bysome accounts, a 30% reduction in speed by a bulk carrier can save around 50%in fuel. This means slower steaming could provide big savings in fuel costs,but it would be at the expense of increased expenditure on crew for theselonger voyages, both in wages and for the “hotel” facilities required on board.Removing the crew, though, also removes the need for their accommodation andits associated equipment, like heating and plumbing. And that provides room tocarry more cargo.
The transition to unmanned ships could take place in steps, says OskarLevander, head of engineer and technology for the marine division ofRolls-Royce. Crews would be reduced as some functions are move onshore, such asmonitoring machinery. (The engines on jet aircraft are already overseen byground stations.) This could be followed by some watchkeeping and navigationduties. Experienced crew might be put on board when ships leave or enter port,just as pilots are to navigate. And a small maintenance crew could be kept forthe voyage until remote-control systems prove themselves. A fleet of autonomousships could also sail in convoy with a manned vessel in the lead (asillustrated on the previous page).
The onshore control rooms would keep an eye on ships thanks to live datatransmitted from vessels, including video and infra-red images.Object-recognition software, combined with radar, would further automate theprocess. If an alarm was raised the skeleton crew on board could be alerted orthe control room takes charge, probably from a bridge in a simulator.Rolls-Royce already operates virtual ships' bridges, with 360 views, for thetraining of officers and crew. These are realistic enough to make landlubbersfeel seasick.
Using onshore control rooms and simulators a team of ten land-based captainscould operate 100 or so ships, reckons Mr Levander. The captains could commutefrom home for their shifts just as the pilots who fly military drones do.Passenger ships are likely to remain crewed, however. Trained personnel areneeded to manage evacuation procedures, and in any case passengers are unlikelyto want robots and vending machines attending to their needs.
The slower-sailing bulk carriers could be the first ships to be automated,according to the Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks(MUNIN) project, a European Union initiative backed by a number of industrial organizations.Like others, it says the ability of drone ships to detect other vessels andtake avoiding action will be crucial, but possible with advanced technology andimproved backup systems.
With a captain technically in command - even though he is based in an onshorecontrol room - MUNIN thinks the legal and practical challenges of meetingmaritime rules could be met. Radio messages from other ships, along with thosefrom coastguards and port authorities, could be automatically routed to theshore captain. Something similar is being proposed for autonomous civil drones,with ground-based pilots responding to communications and air-traffic controlinstructions as if they were in the cockpit.
In many ways automating a ship should be a lot easier than automating aircraft,Mr Levander believes. For a start, if something did go wrong, instead offalling out of the sky a drone ship could be set by default to cut its enginesand drop anchor without harming anyone. As for piracy, with no crew to be takenhostage it would be much easier for armed forces to intervene. Of course, moremodern pirates might try to hack their way into the controls of an autonomousship to take command. Which is why encrypted data communication is high on themaritime industry's list of things to do before ghostly vessels ply the traderoutes.
