![]() Right now, we’re at the end of the beginning.” Slowly, the use cases will broaden and get riskier and more complex. “We’ll start by supplying oil rigs with bananas and picking up their dirty laundry. “It’s going to be a very, very slow adoption pathway,” says Ken Bloom, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Global Infrastructure Construction and Services practice. Then remote-controlled coastal uses, followed by remote-controlled ocean crossings, and, eventually, fully autonomous ocean crossings. First, there will be driver-assisted applications. For autonomous shipping to expand from limited applications to ubiquity will require significant political and commercial investment.Įxperts say the immediate future of shipping innovation will likely follow a trajectory similar to that of vehicles. Unlike roadways, which are highly structured grids, the ocean is inherently corrosive and always changing in unpredictable ways. For instance, how do you resolve gaps in satellite connectivity in the middle of the ocean? Who is liable in the event of an accident? Will piracy migrate from attacks on the open seas to hacking? The biggest threat is the water itself. Just as self-driving cars have faced many setbacks, self-driving seaborne craft are likely to encounter their own snags. “Autonomous shipping is not about technology anymore it’s a matter of willingness,” says Phaneuf. Of course, with new technology comes new risks-and new regulations. "Experts say it will also open a new market, as freight haulers migrate from land to water." The solutions to each of these issues are multifaceted, but relying more on water transportation and automation will be key to building supply-chain resiliency and efficiency. Meanwhile, the pool of qualified seafarers has been shrinking rapidly. During lockdowns, crews have sometimes been stuck at sea for up to a year, with ports unable to process freight when workers became ill. Demand for innovation is largely a response to supply-chain vulnerabilities and labor shortages due to the pandemic, war in Europe, and recent climate-related disasters. Market-research firm Thetius forecasts that the global maritime digital-technology industry will be worth $345 billion by the end of the decade. “We’re changing how we interact with and benefit from our waterways,” says Moran David, chief commercial officer of Boston-based Sea Machines, which is building autonomous command-and-control technology as well as long-range computer-vision programs.Īs in many other areas of society, the last few years have hit fast-forward on advancements in maritime enterprise. Perhaps even more significant, experts say, these developments are prompting companies and governments to rethink how they transport goods and deliver services. Digitization is revolutionizing maritime operations, creating new opportunities for both transoceanic and domestic shipping that could reduce human risk, environmental harm, and logistical inefficiencies. The Mikage even docked itself, with the aid of drones, at its final destination. A Japanese freight company recently sent a 313-foot uncrewed vessel through 236 miles of crowded coastal waters. In Norway, the world’s first fully electric self-propelled container ship will soon be transporting fertilizer through the fjords with only a skeleton crew (and eventually none at all). Along the Gulf Coast, remote-controlled tugboats are pushing oil barges. "Studies show that human error is responsible for around 70 percent of maritime accidents."Īcross the world, the autonomous revolution has taken to the high seas, quietly surpassing better-known efforts on land. The venture represents a full reimagining of how a ship functions, propels itself through the water, and stores freight. And where crew members might have slept, eaten, and used the facilities, a cargo bay housed 1,500 pounds of scientific gear. Instead of a weathered captain, it was a complex system of sensors, cameras, and artificial-intelligence commands that navigated the 50-foot-long trimaran. “If anything, the Mayflower shows there is still space for exploration,” says Brett Phaneuf, whose marine research nonprofit, ProMare, managed the initiative, with support from IBM. When the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, propelled primarily by renewable sources, reached the shore of North America roughly six weeks after setting off, it became the first fully autonomous commercial vessel to complete a transatlantic crossing. This modern voyage involved fewer passengers. In spring, a little more than 400 years after the original Mayflower set sail across the Atlantic Ocean with roughly thirty crew members and one hundred pilgrims, the historic ship’s successor launched westward from Plymouth, England. See the latest issue of Briefings at newsstands or read in our new format here.
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