THE UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has identified four degrees of ship autonomy, ranging from partially autonomous to fully autonomous, reports Athens' Safety4Sea.
The first degree one has the ship automated processes and decision support with seafarers onboard to operate and control shipboard systems and functions.
Some operations may be automated and at times be unsupervised but with seafarers onboard ready to take control, said the report.
'Degree two: Remotely controlled ship with seafarers onboard: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. Seafarers are onboard to take control and to operate the shipboard systems and functions.
'Degree three: Remotely controlled ship without seafarers onboard: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. There are no seafarers onboard.
'Degree four: Fully autonomous ship: The operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself,' said the report.
The most recent automation project was the fully autonomous Mayflower, meant to sail in a 12-day voyage in May through the Atlantic as part of a project led by marine research organisation ProMare in cooperation with IBM, said the report.
In May, the Mayflower (named after the ship that brought the Pilgrim Fathers to Massachusetts) had a problem with the charging circuit for the generator starter batteries while its voyage across the Atlantic without any humans onboard and had to divert to Halifax.
In 2017, the Svitzer Hermod, the world's first remotely operated commercial vessel was demonstrated in Copenhagen harbour, as part of a cooperation between Rolls-Royce and global towage operator Svitzer.
'From the quay side, the vessel's captain, stationed at a remote operating centre (ROC) at Svitzer headquarters, berthed the vessel alongside the quay, undocked, turned 360 degrees, and piloted it to the Svitzer HQ, before docking again.
'The remote operating centre was designed to redefine the way in which vessels were controlled,' said the report.
Instead of copying existing wheelhouse design, the ROC used input from experienced captains to place the different system components in the optimum place to give the master confidence and control.'
In the same year, a team from Wartsila Dynamic Positioning remotely controlled a platform supply vessel in the North Sea using a standard satellite link from its office in California. The team used a DP system to send the platform on a 'box maneuver', 20 metres in four directions.
Then, they used a combination of DP and joystick control to carry out a series of other maneuvers, testing control of surge, sway and yaw, before steering the vessel for a couple of miles of its journey back to Aberdeen. In both cases, a crew was on standby onboard, but they didn't need to act.
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The first degree one has the ship automated processes and decision support with seafarers onboard to operate and control shipboard systems and functions.
Some operations may be automated and at times be unsupervised but with seafarers onboard ready to take control, said the report.
'Degree two: Remotely controlled ship with seafarers onboard: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. Seafarers are onboard to take control and to operate the shipboard systems and functions.
'Degree three: Remotely controlled ship without seafarers onboard: The ship is controlled and operated from another location. There are no seafarers onboard.
'Degree four: Fully autonomous ship: The operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself,' said the report.
The most recent automation project was the fully autonomous Mayflower, meant to sail in a 12-day voyage in May through the Atlantic as part of a project led by marine research organisation ProMare in cooperation with IBM, said the report.
In May, the Mayflower (named after the ship that brought the Pilgrim Fathers to Massachusetts) had a problem with the charging circuit for the generator starter batteries while its voyage across the Atlantic without any humans onboard and had to divert to Halifax.
In 2017, the Svitzer Hermod, the world's first remotely operated commercial vessel was demonstrated in Copenhagen harbour, as part of a cooperation between Rolls-Royce and global towage operator Svitzer.
'From the quay side, the vessel's captain, stationed at a remote operating centre (ROC) at Svitzer headquarters, berthed the vessel alongside the quay, undocked, turned 360 degrees, and piloted it to the Svitzer HQ, before docking again.
'The remote operating centre was designed to redefine the way in which vessels were controlled,' said the report.
Instead of copying existing wheelhouse design, the ROC used input from experienced captains to place the different system components in the optimum place to give the master confidence and control.'
In the same year, a team from Wartsila Dynamic Positioning remotely controlled a platform supply vessel in the North Sea using a standard satellite link from its office in California. The team used a DP system to send the platform on a 'box maneuver', 20 metres in four directions.
Then, they used a combination of DP and joystick control to carry out a series of other maneuvers, testing control of surge, sway and yaw, before steering the vessel for a couple of miles of its journey back to Aberdeen. In both cases, a crew was on standby onboard, but they didn't need to act.
SeaNews Turkey
