Rødseth opened the debate with strong evidence that semi-autonomous
vessels are already operating on coastal services in Norway. “Since spring 2022, the world’s
first semi-autonomous container ship has been transporting mineral fertilizer
from the Yara production facility in Porsgrunn to the regional export port in
Brevik. The vessel is actually
autonomous but still operates with a crew of three and is remotely controlled
from a control center,” he reported.
“Seafar technology is
currently deployed on over forty vessels mostly inland ships, of which a
majority are already operating with reduced crew and are remotely controlled,” remarked Holstein
As far as developments in France are concerned van Collie of ZULU
Associates gave a summary, “Since May 2024, the French
authorities have issued a decree allowing the operation of autonomous ships in
French territorial waters. As a designer of such vessels, we are in close talks
with the state waterway authority VNF (Voies Navigables de France) to hopefully
operate unmanned or partially unmanned ships by next year,” he
said.
Members of the
audience were curious about the risk of vessel failures and accidents. Holstein explained that remote control actually increases the
levels of operational safety. Eight-hour shifts for captains onshore are
significantly less tiring than the 12-14 hour shifts often required on
board. Rødseth commented on the easing of crew stress levels through
automation eases the crew’s burden of a “tedious 30-day straight course across
the Pacific,” for instance.
The full session Connecting Ports #08 is available on YouTube Connecting Ports | Session #8 | Navigating Next: The
Path to Autonomous Maritime Transport (youtube.com)
The next session of Connecting Ports will take place on 5 September
2024. It will focus on an urgent industry topic: cybersecurity challenges in
ports