A future with ships sailing without
a captain, navigated by artificial intelligence?
by Earl of Cruise
by Earl of Cruise
Unmanned vessels flying the
flag of Amazon - that is the opinion of the largest German ship owners, and not
only them, no longer an utopia. The Marine heads for the digitization and
adjusts to a broad upheaval in the sector.
Photo courtesy by MAERSK LINE
Men overboard, to save
costs, to become more efficient, be more shareholder value caring?
The digitalizing will engage
the ship owners in the near future. PwC has made research for. 87% of the
participating think of a higher digitalizing of shipping. 25% think it will be
that successful, that we will see ships in the near future sailing without a
crew. It is a turning point, as last year 96% did not think digitalizing will
even happen. But we have seen sailing the first of these non crewed vessels.
51% of the managers think it
will be important for the international competition to get a bigger part in the
whole transport chain. And 66% think they should serve the door to door
business for being competitive in the future.
"The progressive digitalization
compels the German shipping companies now to expand their service portfolio and
cover the logistics chain comprehensive - not only at sea but also on
land." said Claus Brandt partner at PwC, responsible for the maritime
business. Even the ships could be maintained from ashore via the digitalization.
Six of ten participants on
the research said, that we will see Amazon and google as shipping lines. As
such new competitors are reaching into the transport chain.
The total investment is
nearly as high than last year.
It very different on behalf
of LNG use. 33% think LNG will be the fuel of the future, as 66% think it won´t
play that a role, as 71% of these think they can´t hand down the transforming
costs of the fleets to customers.
I guess they have forgotten
more and more people ask for green food, look for the carbon footprint, sustainability
and environmental responsibility.
Betting on the old heavy oil
as fuel, even with the use of katalysators (scrubbers) to reduce the SOX and
NOX will be no solution to the needed change. And then we will have the
regulations for TIER III in place and TIER IV coming. Even in the USA and
Canada, which is wonder, there is 200sm offshore area where heavy marine diesel
is no longer allowed.
But back to the
automatisation in the shipping industry.
The way into the artificial inteligence is like opening Pandoras box.
Why so?
DNV robot vessel idea, photo coutesy by DNV
In general the investors in these technologies think in first place in
return on investment, which is normal and a market must. A crew-less vessel
will have more space for freight at same dimensions, as no crew quarters must
be installed. But what will be with all those who can´t go with the change?
Those who don´t have a chance in this brave new world? What of those who will
be unemployed after the mass automatisation? These will all get their anxiety
for the future, as we see it at present ... taking their turn to the
extremistic forces and politicians.
In London is the Docland railway running without a conductor. It is
strange, but exiting too.
The London Dockland Railroad, the automated trains run without conductors on the train,
photo courtesy by London Dockland Railroad
Rendering of drone container ship, photo courtesy by ROLLS ROYCE MARINE
Another point is the security. Despite all the claiming for the
security of that technology, we have our first death from that technology. I
love the TESLA, but I fear for its driver-less qualities.And it is the same for
ships sailed by artificial intelligence. What is about sheer winds? We all know
these videos where ships, even crewed they are getting in troubles. How will an
automated sytem react?
What is about the hospitality on cruise ships, as this new technology
will be implemente there too. Will it be as in STAR TREK? ... "Computer,
Earl Grey!" ... ? If I prefer only the food of the `M´ than it may be
perhaps okay ... Hospitality
controlled from ashore will be like Hollywood Sci-fi films like STAR
TREK or PROMETHEUS, where the
on board housekeeping within the space ships is done by robots or humanoid
androids like that of Michael Fassbender played in that film, or will be remote
controlled.
Or what about the housekeeping? Will see then only permanent vacuuming
roboters? Rather let the
housekeeping or hospitality leave in the hands of the employees of top notch
hospitality management companies while the ship's technicalities are controlled
from ashore.
The navigation via GPS is standard today. But when the USA gone to war
with Irak, the last time, we had massive navigation problems, at sea and
ashore, as the system was cut short to protect the US and allies moves. And
what with hackers? What if these take control of the ships? And no computer
system is that secure, that nobody is able to hack into and take control ...
The human can make mistakes, and we cry why was he so stupid to do this
and that, and why this or that, but I distrust a mashine.
The last barrier is our human brain, wisdom and empathy.
This will mean the
future total unemployment. The future ships will be in the hands of hospitality
managers and not merchant mariners in person. Jobs for few only. And
to be feed, filling our fridges, so in the future too, we need jobs, earn money
... or we get dictators, wars or other very dark to experience. People today
are scared about their future. Those turn to radicals. What if we have total
unemployment ... ? ...
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