CONCLUSION
Once again, we are seeing the vast gulf between those at
sea and those ashore — especially those who have never
served on a ship.
One has the impression that we are being bullied into a
situation in which we will be considered as out of date or
obstructionist if we oppose such ships. Anyway, what do
ignorant seafarers know about such things?
No one wants to consider all the ancillary points I have
raised, but without this, these ships cannot be contem-plated.
There may well be some form of shuttle service
operating, with certain precautions put in place by the
ports willing to accept autonomous ships — and there are
several applications where such controlled shipping can be
of use, especially in the military sense. But I feel sure that
we can continue to offer those wishing to make a career at
sea a secure place for many years to come. Certainly there
seems to be no halt to conventional ships being built.
In the meantime, I suggest to Rolls-Royce and Lloyd’s
Register that they put their money where their mouth is.
Form a company, build and pay for a proper deepsea
autonomous ship, get all the protocols in place and then
run it for a year. Then we will see. Strangely, I have a
feeling that they will want someone else to take the risk
while they take their profits.
In other words, hopefully, a few people will return to
planet earth and realise the limitations of such ships. For
those at sea, don’t pack your bags yet. Or if these ships do
come to fruition, then go into the salvage business. Stay
safe. •
Copyright Nautilus International ”Telegraph”.
Artikkeli on lainattu Telegraph-lehdestä:
FINLANDS SJÖFART J SUOMEN MERENKULKU 41
garages now report that their work is moving away from
engine repair to electronic repair, so why should this not
be the same on these ships? I have never sailed from a port
with everything working at the same time on my ship,
regardless of type. Is this going to change?
ECONOMICS
This is the hinge for the whole concept.
No owner is going to invest in such ships unless there is a
profit — and it has to be proven profit.
Which is cheaper, a handful of Filipino crew with the
ship registered in a marine-blind island republic or one of
these autonomous ships to which, inevitably at some time,
a repair crew will have to be flown out, provided the ship
is within reach of a helicopter? If not, then imagine the
salvage costs. That’s the crew cost gone for the next five
years. The ships will still have to have accommodation and
life support for the repair crews that will inevitably have
to attend.
What about if New York requires an American mooring
gang to be placed onboard on arrival? There goes six
months’ wages for the crew. How about a hydraulic leak?
That’s expensive as well, especially if criminal prosecu-tions
result. Any thought that port costs will reduce should
be discarded, as the ports will have to continue all their
normal services for manned ships, as well as providing all
the facilities for autonomous ships. Up go the costs again.
THE WEATHER
Weather is sadly so neglected these days with the idea that
ships are bigger and therefore not so affected, and that
weather reporting is now state of the art.
I once did a survey of the reliability of weather report-ing
in the Pacific with both the US and Japanese reports
received together with ocean routeing. Ocean routeing was
poor, with 40% accuracy, and the shore reports from the
weather stations around 65%. Is that enough to base our
autonomous reliability on?
It could be said that the operator of the ship in the office
has the same information and can change the course of the
ship according to the reports, but what about commercial
pressure? It is far easier to exert this on someone sitting at
a desk a few feet away instead of the bridge of a ship. You
think this would not be done? Tell that to the passengers
on the Anthem of the Seas, which sailed out of a US port
directly into a hurricane. Hardly any ship in the world has
more technical equipment on the bridge than this ship, yet
look what happened. Passengers injured, equipment and
ship damaged, and we are still awaiting the promised
investigation by the Bahamas flag state. As it involves one
of their important customers, I have a feeling we will never
see that report, or if we do, it will blame the hurricane for
getting in the way.
In severe weather, the only place to judge the feel of the
ship and how she is responding is the bridge, not staring
into some screen thousands of miles away. It also helps to
have a seafarer on the bridge as well.