technology is not necessarily better than human decision-making.
‘It’s a misconception that accidents are primarily
caused by seafarer error,’ he said. In fact, he claimed,
trained maritime professionals onboard ships are much
more likely to avert accidents than cause them, and they
often step in to solve problems caused by faulty technol-ogy.
Seafarers will remain indispensable, he stressed.
Mr Koponen said that the main thrust of Wärtsilä’s
development work was to use ‘augmented reality’ to
enhance seafarers’ abilities rather than replace humans. In
his presentation, he demonstrated different viewing modes
for a device that could allow navigators to see the view
”International regulations could take as long as 10 years to develop,
and there are some vessels which may never be suitable for
unmanned voyages.”
from the bridge with information about surrounding
vessels and potential hazards superimposed onto these
objects in real time.
Another point about the role of seafarers in autonomous
shipping was later raised in a question from the floor.
Kevin Daffey had spoken of new job opportunities for
seafarers in shore-based remote operation centres – which
could be attractive for being more family-friendly than
going away to sea. However, one delegate asked how
officers could rise through the ranks and be trained to
become shipmasters capable of remote operation if they
no longer went to sea in significant numbers. The panel
agreed that it was very important for the IMO to consider
this issue in the next few years, and Mr Daffey conceded
that there were some vessels which may never be suitable
for unmanned voyages, such as those carrying dangerous
cargoes.
Regarding the regulatory framework for autonomous
and remotely-operated vessels, there was consensus in the
room that international standards and regulations would
be very challenging to develop. Mr Daffey said that this
work could take the IMO as long as 10 years, and he urged
individual flag states to follow Finland and Norway’s lead
in developing national legislation so they could benefit
from the new technology more quickly in their own waters.
Mr Berlan added that, from the seafarer’s perspective,
the biggest regulatory issue was assigning the share of
responsibility and liability between ship and shore. ‘There
is lots of legal work to be done on this,’ he stressed. He
also stated that, in his view, fully autonomous vessels
should never be permitted to operate internationally.
28 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
On the technological side, one questioner raised a point
that must have occurred to many in the room: what
happens if an autonomous or remotely-operated vessel
loses contact with the shore? Mr Daffey said that this issue
had been paramount at Rolls-Royce from the start, and
that the company’s vessels were designed to enter a
special safe mode if they lost contact.
Both Mr Daffey and Mr Koponen added that, in an effort
to maintain contact at all times, their companies were
using several communication methods in conjunction,
including satellite communications, 4G mobile phone
signals and radar. Communications with their vessels are
encrypted to protect against cyber-attacks, they noted.
Standard-setting for construction was another point of
discussion. Mr Daffey and Mr Koponen had advocated the
development of goal-based standards for the build and
operation of autonomous and remotely-operated vessels,
but a delegate asked whether prescriptive standards would
not be better for safety. In response, Mr Daffey spoke
strongly in favour of goal-based standards, saying that
technical innovations were progressing so quickly that
prescriptive standards would not be able to keep up.
In other words, he explained, manufacturers should be
given a safety outcome that the regulators wanted them to
achieve, and they should be free to use their latest technol-ogy
to do this. If the standards prescribed the use of a
particular device or method, he pointed out, this could
quickly become obsolete.
One further issue raised was the role of autonomous
and remotely-operated vessels in lifesaving and search-and-
rescue. Mr Daffey speculated that such vessels could
perhaps be deployed to the scene of an accident and be
directed remotely to lower liferafts, but acknowledged that
there was a great deal of technical and regulatory work
needed on this. In addition, the panel members agreed that
the international obligation for all vessels to go to the aid
of others in distress would need to be revisited. •
To watch a video about Rolls-Royce’s Svan system –
including the voyage on 3 December 2018 – go to
www.youtube.com and search for
Svan demonstration Rolls-Royce.
/www.youtube.com