SmartPort Community Lunchmeeting, 11th June 12.00-13.30

ABSTRACT
Is the maritime industry inevitable heading towards full autonomy? Will maritime officers and engineers of the future still be seafarers, or will they become shore-based supervisors and managers? And if so, what is the time line? Will it be safer and will it lead to overall operational cost reduction? In this presentation I will formulate some answers to these questions.
 
First off all, I will introduce smart shipping and autonomous shipping as two separate lines of developments that require different technique and business models. A viable business case for autonomous shipping requires important conditions which makes it not generic applicable. Furthermore, I will argue that autonomous shipping requires human supervisory control probably conducted from within a shore control station. Should the function allocation between the technology on board a ship and the operator on shore be fixed or flexible? What does it takes in terms of operator support technology to ensure that the operators is able to build up and maintain situational awareness of the nautical context of the vessel and over the ability of the vessel to cope with that context?