Autonomous and remotely-operated ships

The rise of automous shipping

Autonomous shipping – ranging from remote control operation to fully unmanned vessels – represents a significant evolution in the maritime industry.

It offers a wide range of benefits, including improved safety, optimised logistics chains, improved cargo capacity due to reductions in crew, increased fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and reduced operational and maintenance costs.

DNV anticipates growing prevalence of autonomous shipping, both in newbuilds and with added autonomous functionality in existing vessels. This transition is expected to occur gradually, evolving in a stepwise manner over the coming years.

Different dimensions of autonomous shipping

Autonomous shipping is defined by three main dimensions – location of control, degree of system independence, and human involvement. Based on this, autonomous shipping can be separated into four broad categories:

1. Remote control: The activities of the onboard operation are transferred to a location other than the vessel. The operator is responsible for the vessel’s function and does not rely on the use of an autonomous system for decision making or decision support.
2. Decision support: When conventional vessels are equipped with a decision support system, it functions as an advisory system, like a co-pilot. The system acquires real-time data, analyzes information, plans actions, and advises the operator on potential courses of action. This setup offers benefits such as improved operational predictability, enhanced safety, reduced crew workload, and lower maintenance costs, potentially leading to increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
3. Supervised autonomy: Similar to a decision support system, but with the distinction that the system is capable of autonomous action without waiting for acknowledgment. Human operators stay informed and can intervene if needed. Key autonomous functions include safety measures like auto-lookout and collision avoidance, as well as operational optimizations like remote navigation and monitoring.
4. Full autonomy: This has the same goal as the supervised autonomy system with even more benefits. However, in this case, the vessel actsindependently, and the human operator is only involved in exceptional circumstances.

Towards full autonomy: Current landscape, regulatory developments, and prospects

Among the different dimensions of autonomous shipping, decision support systems are most prevalent on the market today. In the longer run autonomy is expected to develop more towards unmanned, fully autonomous vessels as technologies, regulations and norms evolve. Crew on these vessels will be minimal and control will be carried out from centralized, onshore Remote Operating Centres (ROCs).

Challenges in autonomous shipping

Before autonomous and remotely operated ships can be effectively deployed, numerous challenges must be addressed, spanning from ensuring the reliability of onboard machinery, to guaranteeing the stability and cybersecurity of essential software, and finally, navigating the complex landscape of national and international rules and regulations.

DNV is actively collaborating with stakeholders in this emerging field to build a robust set of standards. These standards are pivotal in facilitating the adoption of new systems and technologies, ensuring their safe integration into the market. Check Autoremote Systems and Autoremote Vessels for more details.