Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
December 2017
/ January 2018
T
he accident investigation
Maritime satcom
report from the UK MAIB ‘hacks’ offer important
(Marine Accident Investiga- lessons – 10
tion Branch) into the grounding of the
bulk carrier Muros in December 2016
has pointed to improper use of ECDIS
Is shipping ready
as a contributory factor to the inci- for the Big Data
dent, with the investigators noting revolution? – 12
that the number of similar incidents
they have encountered in recent years
has led them to the conclusion that software
previous generations of the technolo-
gy have not been designed with user The bulk carrier Muros ran aground due to improper use of ECDIS, Fujitsu completes voyage optimisation
needs in mind. according to investigators trials - 16
According to the MAIB report,
warnings of the dangers that were alerted the second officer to the dan- are at variance with the instructions and Blockchain in maritime
automatically generated by the ger in time to successfully take avoid- guidance provided by the manufactur- – changing the nature
Muro’s ECDIS ‘check route’ function ing action had been disabled. ers and/or expected by regulators.”
were ignored as the ship approached “The MAIB has recently investigat-
of transactions – 20
Haisborough Sand, where the vessel ed several grounding incidents in Safety study
grounded. which the way the vessels’ ECDIS was The MAIB says that it is now looking Wilhelmsen begins Veracity
A visual check was made by the configured and utilised was contribu- to improve the safe use of ECDIS in
crew of the track in the ECDIS using a tory. There is increasing evidence to the industry by conducting a safety
pilot project – 22
small-scale chart, but this did not suggest that first generation ECDIS study in collaboration with the Danish
identify the route to be unsafe. The systems were designed primarily to Maritime Accident Investigation
passage plan in the Muros’ ECDIS comply with the performance stan- Board that will aim to more fully electronics and
had been revised by the second offi-
cer less than three hours before the
dards required by the IMO, as these
systems became a mandatory require-
understand why operators are not
using ECDIS as envisaged by regula-
navigation
grounding, but this had not been seen ment on ships, with insufficient atten- tors and system manufacturers.
or approved by the master. tion being given to the needs of the The goal of the project will be to
MPA and Shell to
The second officer monitored the end user,” MAIB says, in the report. provide data to maritime stakehold- work together on
vessel’s position using the ECDIS but “As a consequence, ECDIS systems ers that can be used to improve the digital projects – 26
did not take any action when the ves- are often not intuitive to use and lack functionality of future ECDIS sys-
sel crossed the 10m safety contour the functionality needed to accommo- tems, both in terms of operator expe-
into shallow water. This lack of atten- date accurate passage planning in con- rience and encouraging the use of The technology behind
tion was compounded by the fact that fined waters. This situation has led to human centred design principles in the autonomous ships – 28
alarms on the ECDIS that could have seafarers using ECDIS in ways which development of the equipment. DS
CONTROL OPEX
WITH SHIPMANAGERTM
December 2017
/ January 2018
CONTROL OPEX
WITH SHIPMANAGERTM
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SOFTWARE
Data driven design to save ten per cent DNV GL goes fully electronic on certificates
on fuel for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises www.dnvgl.com using temporary access codes which pro-
vide access to the secure certificate folder.
www.dnvgl.com DNV GL reports that it has begun the roll “Over the last several years we have
out of IMO-compliant electronic class and been leveraging digitalisation to improve
A data analytics programme applied to the statutory certificates across its entire fleet, the experience of our classification cus-
design of two new Hapag-Lloyd Cruises following years of work on pilot projects tomers,” said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO
passenger expedition ships, currently with owners and flag administrations to of DNV GL – Maritime.
under construction at the Vard Shipyard in test and gain acceptance for the use of elec- “The roll out of electronic certificates is
Romania and Norway, has resulted in pro- tronic certificates. a significant step forward in our pathway
jected annual fuel savings of more than ten The classification society says that towards modernising classification.
per cent, the company says. DNV GL calculated the pressure almost 50 flag state administrations have Electronic certificates will smooth our cus-
DNV GL began working with Hapag- distribution on various hull types as part of now granted DNV GL the authority to tomer’s interactions with class, allow
Lloyd Cruises during the initial design and the analysis process issue electronic statutory certificates on stakeholders across the industry to capture
conception phase for the two vessels, their behalf, and that it expects this num- value from digitalisation, and give us a
HANSEATIC nature and HANSEATIC ing the environmental impact of our ves- ber to grow even more in the near future. platform for future improvements.”
inspiration, creating and exploring more sels is an integral part of the design con- “The electronic certificate regime DNV GL intends to rapidly roll out
than 100,000 hull variations for the vessels, cept. Working with DNV GL has allowed offered by DNV GL has provided us with electronic certificates across the fleet, with
applying the computing power of approx- us to significantly reduce fuel consump- a unique advantage in the contemporary newbuilding vessels receiving certificates
imately 7,000 CPUs. tion, which also decreases our overall market, where leverage from digitalised upon delivery, and existing vessels at their
Analysis of the various hull forms, and emissions.” high-end efficient work processes plays an next scheduled survey or audit.
of the impact on fuel consumption of inter- In related news, DNV GL has also recent- integral role,” said Morten Nygaard, fleet That survey process will also be sup-
actions between the hull form, the initial ly introduced a new ‘Virtual Trial’ applica- manager, Teekay Offshore, owners of one ported by a new DNV GL Smart Survey
general arrangement and stability require- tion, using simulated computational fluid of the vessels used in the pilot projects. Booking tool (SSB), which uses smart algo-
ments, was then applied by Hapag-Lloyd dynamics (CFD) data to allow customers “It is our intention to benefit from the rithms and machine learning to find the
Cruises and Vard in choosing the optimal in any location to analyse, compare and new regime within the shortest possible best time and place to book a survey.
design for the new ships, which are expect- benchmark the fuel efficiency of different time frames.” The algorithms identify when the maxi-
ed to launch in April and October 2019. hull designs before they are constructed. Certificates are published on DNV GL’s mum number of survey items can be com-
After the initial assessment, the efficien- The results are made available within customer portal immediately after an bined, by assessing the initiation and expi-
cy of the hull form was then optimised one week, DNV GL says, via a web-based onboard survey is completed, so that all ration dates for class surveys, audits and
within the given constraint set using DNV report where users can see the CFD results relevant parties can access the latest certifi- conditions. An estimation of the required
GL’s formal optimisation approach. and hull lines in 3D. Users can upload indi- cates. The electronic certificates are time the ship needs to be available for the
During this phase, another 10,000 hull vidual vessel hull forms, run simulations secured with a digital signature and a survey/audit, with the associated travel
designs were analysed, with the most with pre-set parameters and then compare unique tracking number (UTN) which can and costs, is also generated. SSB will then
promising candidates undergoing high their results against the results of similar be checked online to confirm their validity recommend a port of call based on all of
fidelity computational fluid dynamic vessels in the Virtual Trial database. and authenticity. these factors.
(CFD) analysis to confirm the results. “What we have done with Virtual Trial Customers can choose to share access to After a booking is made, SSB also pro-
“The design concept for the two new is to let our customers run CFD simula- their certificates with stakeholders (charter- vides a set of survey preparation docu-
ships was ‘inspired by nature’,” said Dr tions, without having to invest in CFD ers, ports, flag administrations, insurers) by ments for the crew of the vessel.
Henning Brauer, head of new builds, expertise,” said Carsten Hahn, product
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. manager at DNV GL – Maritime.
“The vessel interiors have been created “Virtual trials can be launched in com-
to reflect the environments our passengers plete anonymity, from anywhere, at any
are experiencing inside the ships. But these time, by simply uploading the hull geome-
are also sensitive environments, so reduc- try file and defining the operating profile.”
SOFTWARE
GNS launches VOYAGER Hub for maritime applications Samsung to install performance monitoring
www.gnsworldwide.com IMO, Intertanko, SIGTTO and others. A system on newbuilds
search facility is included to find required
GNS has launched its new VOYAGER Hub information or download new editions www.bmtsmart.com Cloud-based performance monitoring
application platform, with the aim of sup- as required. solution, SMARTFLEET, where it is anal-
porting implementation of selected soft- The Witherby eReader is provided Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has ysed by BMT’s data analytics team.
ware systems on board ship while also free of charge as part of VOYAGER agreed a deal with BMT SMART to install “This is a great win for us and we
providing an additional layer of protection Hub, and users can opt for a GNS fixed BMT’s vessel performance monitoring appreciate the support our service part-
against cyber threats. price technical publications bundle spe- system on four VLCCs under construc- ners, Marbiss and Intra Mare Hellas, pro-
VOYAGER Hub will include applica- cific to each vessel type and Flag, or can tion for a Greek owner, in addition to sim- vided to help us secure these projects,"
tions and content from GNS and selected self-select titles to fit their company ilar recently contracted orders to outfit said Peter Mantel, managing director of
partners, ranging from navigation and requirements. seven Suezmax and Aframax tankers BMT SMART.
voyage optimisation to weather and non- Other Hub services include the being built for Norwegian and “In a world where we are inundated
navigation related services. Admiralty eBook reader, which provides Singaporean owners. with data, it’s critical that we focus on pro-
Alongside these services GNS says it is access to the UKHO’s eNP library; a choice BMT will provide SHI with its modular viding a solution that helps to transform
also developing cyber-security systems, of weather routing solutions from compa- vessel performance monitoring solution, this complex information into actionable
to protect against the higher level of risk nies such as Meteo Group; a tool to man- SMART VESSEL, which collects analogue insights – only then can owners and oper-
that results from the increased connectiv- age technical library compliance; and an and serial feeds from shipboard equip- ators truly begin to enhance operational
ity between vessel and shore in modern application that generates a passage plan ment before transferring the data to BMT’s efficiency and profitability.”
shipping. for routes created using GNS’s VOYAGER
Among the applications included is Planning Station. more data and operating in an ever more digital systems, and at the moment crews
GNS’s new V-Drive, used to transfer The Hub also provides the ability to complex business and regulatory environ- may still spend upwards of 30 per cent of
ENCs, ENC updates, permits and route monitor usage of ENCs purchased via ment, but many are still learning what the their time on administration and other low
files from the back of bridge computer to GNS’s Voyager Open Permit ‘pay as you potential of all of the available data might value activity. GNS employs more than 50
the ECDIS. Users plug the V-Drive into sail’ and fixed price bundle services, as be,” said Paul Stanley, GNS CEO. qualified mariners and uses that experi-
the USB port on the PC to copy the files, well as offering a tool that checks the “The VOYAGER Hub ecosystem is har- ence to design software with real mariner
and then plug the V-Drive into their ‘cyber health’ of the back of bridge PC on nessing Big Data and delivering exciting workflows in mind, so that tools can
ECDIS USB port to upload to the naviga- which the Hub sits. new digitally-led efficiencies and safety streamline navigation and other opera-
tion system. Further Hub services are scheduled for improvements to a wide range of stake- tional activities and allow shipping compa-
Another Hub application is the launch later in 2017 and early 2018, GNS holders both ashore and on board.” nies to focus on maximising the value of
Witherby eBook Reader, which provides says. “The maritime industry is making a their most valuable assets – their people
access to 600 nautical publications, from “Shipping companies are generating transition from running on paper to using and their ships.”
SOFTWARE
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p14-23_p1-14.qxd 14/11/2017 15:20 Page 7
SOFTWARE
Blockchain in maritime –
changing the nature of transactions
Blockchain technologies have attracted an inordinate amount of discussion over the course of 2017, with the maritime
industry in particular showing huge enthusiasm for the potential it offers. Preparing for the possible changes to
shipping operations should form part of the digitalisation of our industry, writes Tore Morten Olsen, Marlink
I
t’s well understood that shipping is efficiency by enabling a paperless digital
essentially a set of established pro- layer for all city transactions, supporting
cesses for moving goods from A to B. ‘Smart Dubai’ initiatives in the public and
But within those processes there are many private sector. Under the strategy, required
stakeholders, from the goods owner and documentation, such as visa applications,
logistics company to the ship owner, char- bill payments and licence renewals, which
terer and broker, all of whom offer their account for over 100 million documents
own specific value. each year, will be transacted digitally.
This is how it has always been done and
frankly, it works. But what if there was an A sober approach
alternative? What if there is a new, more for maritime
transparent way of doing business that has While mainstream organisations like IBM,
the potential to dramatically improve effi- central banks and governments start to
ciency, reduce waste, increase security and review and apply blockchain technologies,
ultimately streamline shipping to the bene- the adoption of blockchain in maritime
fit of not just the industry itself, but the requires a somewhat more sober approach.
global economy and even the environment? From a technology standpoint, the Blockchain technology was born with the launch of Bitcoin in 2009
Blockchain technology could achieve advent of blockchain might be compared to
this by acting as a platform for the sharing the development of TCP/IP, a set of proto- ject with the potential to make container identities, risk and exposures, and integrate
of information securely and transparently. cols that enabled the World Wide Web and handling in the Port of Antwerp more effi- this information with insurance contracts.
Blockchain is an automatically created which improved our ability to communi- cient and secure. Using blockchain tech- The platform’s capabilities include the
immutable record of transactions that can cate with each other in a variety of ways. nology, processes that involve several par- ability to create and maintain asset data
be applied to any information exchange Blockchain might not have such an ties – carriers, terminals, forwarders, from multiple parties; to link data to policy
process. Key benefits of using blockchain immediate, dramatic impact, but there is hauliers, drivers, shippers etc. – are secure- contracts; to receive and act upon informa-
include removing excess paperwork and potential for forward thinking individuals, ly digitised without any central middle- tion that results in a pricing or a business
reducing the number of ‘middlemen’ organisations and companies to deploy the man being involved. process change; to connect client assets,
required in a transaction chain. And technology in ring-fenced projects designed Ship registry – The Danish Maritime transactions and payments; and to capture
because a blockchain is distributed and to overcome specific challenges or to Authority has launched a pilot project (v) and validate up-to-date first notification or
open to all stakeholders by its very nature, improve bloated and outdated processes. to examine the value of blockchain technol- loss data.
each transaction in the chain is 100 per cent There are already a number of interest- ogy, which, according to the Minister for Supply chain logistics – In March 2017,
verifiable and virtually impossible to ing disruptive maritime projects underway Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Maersk and IBM unveiled the first indus-
defraud. or in the planning stages however. Below Brian Mikkelsen: “… may pave the way for try-wide cross-border supply chain solu-
Starting out as the infrastructure behind is a list of already active blockchain pro- a more open, secure and efficient registra- tion using blockchain (vii). Based on
the crypto currency Bitcoin in 2009, jects and near-future potential applications tion of ships on the Danish registers.” Hyperledger Fabric technology and built
blockchain thinking is being applied to a of blockchain, selected to show where the A press statement said that the project by IBM and Maersk, the blockchain solu-
wide range of applications today. technology could have the biggest impact has been established to clarify whether tion will be made available to the shipping
IBM appears to be committed to it, with first in the maritime world. blockchain technology could support the and logistics industry.
several projects worthy of note. Its Global Dedicated shipping currency – Danish Maritime Authority's digitalisation It will be used to help manage and track
Finance Unit (IGF) has developed a Unsurprisingly, one of the first maritime efforts positively and help bring about an the paper trail of tens of millions of ship-
blockchain solution (i) to significantly focused applications of blockchain is cen- open, secure and more efficient approach to ping containers across the world by digi-
improve the dispute resolution time with- tred around currency. 300cubits (iii) is a the data recorded in its registers of shipping. talising the supply chain process from end-
in its sales channel, consisting of 4,000 blockchain initiative designed to relieve the Security – Security is also a potential to-end to enhance transparency and will
partners and suppliers. pain points of the container shipping indus- area that could benefit from the use of facilitate the secure sharing of information
There are 25,000 disputes every year, but try through the creation of a de facto ship- blockchain in the near future. Shipping among trading partners. According to
the blockchain system provides a transpar- ping crypto currency called TEU and migra- suffers from criminals smuggling e.g., IBM, when adopted at scale the solution
ent record of all transactions that can be tion of industry processes onto Ethereum – drugs, weapons and people, and from theft has the potential to save the industry bil-
accessed by all stakeholders. The increased the second largest crypto currency by mar- of legitimate cargoes enabled by processes lions of dollars.
visibility and trust means that dispute reso- ket capitalisation behind Bitcoin. that can be infiltrated and altered. In a similar vein to its work with Maersk,
lutions are now typically completed within To start, it will implement TEU tokens If these processes were based on in August this year IBM announced that it is
10 days rather than 40, with a reduction of as deposits for the shipment booking pro- blockchain it would be much harder for working with a group of major food com-
40 per cent of capital held in the process. cess with the help of the TEU Ecosystem. criminals to gain access and to forge docu- panies including Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden
Blockchain is also being explored at the Going forward, TEU tokens could provide ments in order to carry out their crimes. To State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and
governmental and national economy level. either better foresight or a hedging tool to this end, we could expect border forces, Company, McLane Company, Nestlé,
The Norwegian National Bank (Norges tackle the volatility of industry cycles. security agencies and port stakeholders to Tyson Foods, Unilever and Walmart, to
Bank) is considering a future implementa- Port logistics – A press release (iv) issued adopt the use of blockchain before the apply blockchain technology to making the
tion of electronic currency, where citizens by the Port of Antwerp stated that just shipping sector does. food supply chain safer (viii).
would have a blockchain based account getting a container from point A to point B Insurance – At the beginning of Blockchain technology can be used to
that would allow for peer to peer transac- frequently involves more than 30 different September 2017 (vi), EY and Guardtime improve food traceability by providing
tions, capable of transferring money up to parties, with an average of 200 interactions announced the world’s first blockchain plat- trusted information on the origin and state
a specific amount. While in its early days, between them. Given that many of these form for the marine insurance sector, devel- of food. The group will also try to identify
this project mirrors reports that several interactions are carried out by e-mail, oped in collaboration with stakeholders new areas where the global supply chain
national banks around the world are phone and even fax, paperwork accounts including A.P. Møller-Maersk and Microsoft. can benefit from blockchain.
exploring the potential of blockchain and for up to half of the cost of container A first of its kind in the insurance indus-
crypto currency. transport. try, the platform will connect clients, bro- Success factors
Likewise, the Dubai Blockchain Strategy To address this, a company called T- kers, insurers and third parties to distribut- In these early days, the blockchain projects
(ii) will contribute to increased government Mining is currently working on a pilot pro- ed common ledgers that capture data about that have the greatest potential to succeed
4 - 8 June 2018
Metropolitan Expo, Athens Greece
www.posidonia-events.com
p14-23_p1-14.qxd 14/11/2017 15:20 Page 9
SOFTWARE
what extent blockchain will change the blockchain that value could be reduced or
face of maritime though. It’s clear that if we simply become surplus to requirements as
are at the start of something big, something organisations learn to be more open and
revolutionary, it won’t permeate our lives transparent. This is asking a lot of a global
as quickly as the internet did through business established over hundreds
TCP/IP. of years.
However, while blockchain is similar to But the benefits of blockchain are there
TCP/IP – it is a protocol based initiative to be harnessed, if a technical and cultural
with a set of rules on how something should shift can be achieved. Perhaps it will be
be done – its application is very different. millennials in the workplace, and main-
Where TCP/IP changed the way we stream projects in the news that will
communicate, blockchain could change change things in time. Or maybe the pio-
how we interact. And where TCP/IP neering examples we looked at above are
offered widespread benefits from the enough to convince logistics stakeholders
beginning, where it was a win-win for that a more open and transparent transac-
everyone, many areas of shipping may not tional pathway can lead to sustainability
see the benefits of blockchain to start with. and success. DS
In fact, with its ability to reduce the num-
ber of middlemen, blockchain may be About the Author
Container tracking and handling could benefit from the application of blockchain technology
viewed as a risk by some. Tore Morten Olsen is president of maritime
Shipping might be later than many at satellite communications company
are most likely those that are typically to September 4th, 2017. other industries to the blockchain party. Marlink
focused on specific problems and are in Blockchain was used from shipment Today, the middlemen add value, but with
themselves not over-reaching in scope or booking to cargo delivery, allowing the
overly complicated in technical terms. feasibility of adopting the technology into References
For instance, instead of trying to revolu- shipping and logistics to be tested. i. Improving Dispute Resolution for Commercial Financing with IBM Blockchain:
tionise the entire logistics value chain in Blockchain technology was also successful- https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1496020045&feature
one go, using blockchain in more focused ly combined with Internet of Things (IoT) =iv&src_vid=F0P7NM7d-ps&v=0DSNdLDOZ5w
areas, such as electronic document han- systems to assess real-time monitoring and ii. Dubai Blockchain Strategy: http://www.smartdubai.ae/dubai_blockchain.php
dling, will pay dividends more quickly. managing of the reefer containers on the iii. 300cubits: https://300cubits.tech
Considering the high cost of managing the vessel. iv. Port of Antwerp: http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/news/antwerp-start-t-mining-
paperwork of a single container, the ship- This points towards the potential end develops-blockchain-solution-safe-efficient-container-release
ping industry stands to benefit significant- goal of a unified blockchain solution from v. Danish Maritime Authority: https://www.dma.dk/Presse/Nyheder/Sider/Blockchain-
ly if blockchain can streamline this process. A-Z; from farm to dining room table. technology-paves-the-way-for-digitalisation.aspx
Hyundai Merchant Marine is one com- Perhaps we won’t see such a complete vi. EY: http://www.ey.com/gl/en/newsroom/news-releases/news-ey-guardtime-and-industry-
pany already putting blockchain to the application of blockchain in the short term, participants-launch-the-worlds-first-marine-insurance-blockchain-platform
test for improving document handling. Its but by being used in specific areas of the vii. IBM: https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/51712.wss
first pilot voyage (ix) using blockchain logistics value chain the technology is viii. IBM: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53013.wss
technology, between Busan in South being driven further into the maritime ix. Hyundai Merchant Marine: https://www.hmm21.com/cms/company/engn/introduce/
Korea and Qingdao in China with reefer world as a whole. prcenter/news/1202833_7540.jsp
containers, took place from August 24th We don’t have a crystal ball telling us to
s at
Visit U cific
Wilhelmsen begins Veracity pilot project
ia Pa
As ime
Marit H30
B -
Booth www.dnvgl.com
Fugro
oceanstar@fugro.com
www.fugro.com/oceanstar
p24-32_p1-14.qxd 14/11/2017 15:38 Page 1
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across all aspects of our lives. Increasingly AI is enabling machines to move into advance, challenging experts and attract- Sensors
it is permeating areas such as automotive, roles and conduct tasks that we only previ- ing public interest. Autonomous systems tailor behaviour and
home systems, the financial sectors and ously thought humans can do and, in the AI is currently experiencing massive operations to context. To do this the system
healthcare. course of doing so, is solving problems in growth, fuelled by investment from nearly needs to ‘sense’ what is going on in its sphere
In this article we will look at three of the novel ways. all the major industry vendors, including of operation and adapt its course of action in
key technology areas critical to the devel- In the commercial maritime sector AI is Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. accordance with what it ‘discovers’.
opment of maritime autonomy. These already enjoying considerable investment This trend will continue, but those seeking Sensors are therefore fundamental to
include: Artificial intelligence; Sensors and and interest. One of the key areas where it to adopt the technology and master its autonomous systems, combined with the
situational awareness; and Connectivity. is receiving particular attention is automa- potential opportunities should be wary of ability to select those sensors as required to
This is not a complete list, of course (and a tion. It is envisaged that the recent invest- its challenges. gather data about on-board systems and
more extensive technology review can be ment drive by companies, such as the People often regard AI as the ‘silver bul- the external environment, process the data
found in the full report referenced at the Bourbon Offshore Consortium that let’ that will solve all of their problems, (e.g. remove noise), fuse the data with
end of this article). includes Automated Ships Ltd and make people redundant, or become very other data inputs, and ultimately create a
As we review these different innova- digital ‘picture’ of the world.
tions, it is necessary to bear in mind that The data collected enables the system to
the development of ‘individual’ technolo- ‘sense’ the external environment, ‘under-
gies is of lesser importance compared with stand’ the context of operations, develop
our ability to integrate these systems to situational awareness, then based on this
create a maritime ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), information make decisions and adapt.
and exploit innovative combinations of Autonomous vessels feature similar
technology to drive new business models technology to self-driving cars and use a
and applications. We will need to combine range of physical sensors to power
the new technologies with effective ways autonomous functions, including: Global
of working and personal lifestyle choices. Positioning System (GPS), Inertial
Nevertheless, technology development Navigation System (INS), optical and infra-
is fundamental to the creation of red cameras, radar, lidar (light detection
autonomous systems, so here we will and ranging), high-resolution sonar, micro-
examine the progress to date in the three phones, and wind and pressure sensors.
areas specified above. On-board sensors are primarily there
for navigation and collision avoidance. The
Artificial Intelligence autonomous system needs to monitor loca-
There are many definitions offered for tion and heading, along with enough infor-
Artificial Intelligence (AI) although what mation about the world around it, so that it
generally is thought of as ‘AI’ appears to can manoeuvre to its intended position
change as the field advances. The well- without collision or inflicting damage to
known technology analyst company itself or others.
Gartner has characterised AI as “a technol- Improving technologies from the Artificial Intelligence sector will have a significant On a sea glider underwater vehicle this
ogy approach to enable machines to do impact on autonomous ship development can be achieved with sensor technology as
what we formerly thought only humans simple as a GPS, depth sensor and com-
could do.” Kongsberg Maritime, to develop unmanned dangerous leading to the “the downfall of pass (possibly with a depth sounder).
However, for the purposes of this paper, shipping will be further enabled by placing the human race”. None of these situations Unmanned ships require a sophisticated
we thought it apt to ask Microsoft’s AI- AI applications on-board. are helpful, and none of these extremes are suite of highly advanced sensors to operate
enabled virtual assistant, Cortana, for a def- Taking a ship, oil rig or any other ocean- true – right now. But they are genuine per- safely in a busy shipping lane.
inition. Cortana described AI as “the simu- going platform, AI has the potential to sup- ceptions of the technology. Unmanned ships will be more efficient,
lation of human intelligence processes by port both manned and unmanned options. AI is still in its infancy and many of the reduce emissions and operate at lower
machines, especially computer systems.” If manned, conversational AI (through hurdles it faces are not necessarily related cost, but this will require effective integra-
AI is therefore, by necessity, a very software entities such as virtual assistants) to technology, but to more people-centred tion of sensors with improved decision-
broad field and includes much of machine will be able to support command decisions issues, such as privacy, trust, regulation making algorithms.
learning, such as deep neural networks, by passing live, contextualised information and ethics. Modern sensing techniques and sensor
also cognitive computing and many to the crew on demand. Many analysts believe that the human technology are developing at pace, pre-
aspects of natural language processing. AI If unmanned, an AI will have to use race is entering a fourth industrial age dominantly in the consumer tech market.
is a key enabler for so-called smart compiled information passed through where AI is its driving force. The Miniaturisation of electronic components
machines and intelligent systems, and its machine learning algorithms in order to McKinsey Global Institute has suggested is being driven by everything from wear-
importance in the context of this paper is make a decision and then act upon it in a that AI is contributing to a transformation able technology and handhelds to the
that it enables machines to exhibit timely and correct manner, enabling of society ‘happening ten times faster and Internet of Things (IoT).
autonomous behaviour, where little or no autonomous operations. In fact, AI has at 300 times the scale, or about 3,000 times Micro and Nano Electromechanical
human intervention is required. already been used in some defence the impact’ of the industrial revolution. Systems (MEMS/NEMS) in mobile phones
There is now little doubt that AI will research work and proven to be an effec- The current momentum of AI develop- are also being exploited. MEMS accelerom-
eventually impact almost every facet of our tive tool in recognising and categorising ment in areas including automation will eters and gyroscopes are a ‘must have’ fea-
everyday lives. AI has already become per- objects at sea to then allow for the correct likely cause a growing restlessness in soci- ture that has now found its way into the
vasive and is now used in many of our daily application of the COLREGs and track ety. Nevertheless, history has shown that, navigation systems of small unmanned
routines without us actually realising it. planning. just like preceding ages, the technology underwater vehicles.
For example, you will find it in smart- Critical enablers for AI are ever increas- will augment human capabilities rather Adjacent to this is that smaller compo-
phones as virtual assistants, e.g. Siri and ing computer processing power, connec- than diminish the need for human involve- nents are more energy-efficient than larger
Cortana, and in purchase prediction where tivity and technologies such as voice and ment. AI offers a huge opportunity to all ones, and the development of wireless sen-
retailers such as Amazon anticipate your image recognition. It provides the ability sectors of society, not least the maritime sors and ubiquitous connectivity enables a
Digital Ship
continuous flow of data. There are interesting developments that tems, electronic navigation, security alert- Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Investment in non-consumer maritime are transforming sensor technology. An ing, and voice communications. (GNSS) such as Global Positioning System
sensors, such as radars and dynamic posi- emerging area is ‘biosensing’, where the Each of these systems are narrowband (GPS). Without this connectivity, safety of
tioning systems (computer-controlled sys- sensor system incorporates a biological in nature. This suits the communications life, cargo and the ships themselves are
tems that automatically maintain a vessel’s component, and has the potential to create technology with VHF/MF/HF being placed at severe risk and operations would
position and heading), has been significant highly sensitive sensors that are quick and inherently limited by frequency of opera- be far less efficient.
and supports the rapid development of easy to use. tion to a maximum of a few kbps (HF), tens Internet access is becoming a mandato-
maritime autonomous systems. This technology is already finding uses of kbps (MF/VHF) and potentially hun- ry way of life to all generations of people.
Wide uptake and use means that these in healthcare, agriculture and food produc- dreds of kbps (for emerging VHF) of data. In the past, the challenges of delivering the
navigation technologies are relatively tion, environmental and security applica- Satcom, which is capable of much high- internet to crew and passengers were
mature, but exploitation of consumer tech tions. In the maritime sector, biosensors er data rates, is regarded as inherently regarded as being too difficult (or expen-
is driving further development. Maritime mounted on an unmanned vessel are inte- expensive to use but will reduce in cost. sive) due to the nature of the environment.
is also benefiting from the development of gral to the cost effective, near real-time in- More recently, maritime has begun to However, it is now recognised that
low-power sensor equipment introduced situ monitoring of high impact, difficult to make use of other technologies for general internet access is a key differentiator for
from consumer portable electronics measure marine pollutants. communications. Commercial cellular 3G passengers (e.g. on cruise liners) and also
markets. Novel navigation sensors, predomi- / 4G networks can provide ship-to-shore for crew retention on no passenger ship-
Autonomous systems can now position nantly based on quantum technologies are coverage out to 30 km from the coast. In ping (e.g. cargo transportation, fishing etc.)
sensors in almost any environment safely dramatically improving accuracy. The addition, companies, such as Tampnet are where young people are otherwise
and cheaply. A wide range of weather, ‘quantum compass’ exploits the 1997 providing offshore 4G to customers in deterred from entering the industry due to
bathymetric sensors and miniaturised Nobel-winning discovery that lasers can be strategic areas of interest such as the North the isolated lifestyle.
sonar equipment, mounted on unmanned used to cool atoms to within fractions of a Sea and Gulf of Mexico oil fields, where Maritime communications is undergoing
systems, are used for hydrographic survey degree of absolute zero. drilling platforms, Floating Production a step change in technological capability. The
and object detection. Over time, the way in In this frozen state atoms are extremely Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units and VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) will
which these sensors are used will continue sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic and grav- support vessels can make use of low laten- increase the throughput and reliability of
to progress, for example Simultaneous itational field, and provide a type of iner- cy (compared to Satcom) and very high data services for critical ships systems across
Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) will tial ‘dead reckoning’ navigation 1,000 bandwidth communications. all modes of off-ship communications.
provide underwater autonomous systems times more accurate that anything before. In addition, advances in Satcom tech- In the future, autonomous ships will
with real-time navigation and mapping This is being trialled by the Royal Navy. nology and lower operating costs have rely on a number of different layers of net-
capability in an environment where GPS is Moore’s Law, the continual cramming of made it feasible for high value platforms, works and connectivity.
unavailable. more transistors onto silicon chips, is still a such as cruise ships, to be followed by indi- Beginning with the on-board network of
Key challenges associated with sensor reality though near its physical limits with vidual satellite spot beams, delivering very sensors and actuators required to monitor
technology and situational awareness computing performance increases slowing. high data rates for passenger convenience and control the ships, these will form an
includes: However, emerging graphical processing (voice calls and Internet access) over Wi-Fi extension of the Internet of Things (IoT, a
• Data quality and accuracy – incorrectly units offer increasing computing power and cellular access. collection of physical objects connected to
generated, processed or fused data will when matrixed together as an alternative to Critical ship systems depend on off-ship the Internet or other networks allowing
lead to inaccurate or low fidelity situa- conventional computer chips that may not connectivity to provide services ranging them to communicate with people or
tional awareness, compromising the be up to the challenges posed by next-gen- from electronic navigation (including machines to monitor or improve automa-
decisions and actions taken by an eration autonomous systems, prompting a weather reporting) to automated identifi- tion) where reports are fed to cloud-based
autonomous system. transition to alternative solutions, such as cation and distress and safety notifications. computing centres (which could be on or
• Connectivity – unmanned systems, neuromorphic computing (a novel comput- Included in this definition is access to off-ship) that respond accordingly to con-
particularly those collecting scientific er design inspired by the structure of the
data, collect an immense amount of brain) and sensor technology.
data. High connectivity costs and poor A pioneering vision sensor, inspired by
bandwidth makes it difficult to remotely the human visual system, is being devel-
confirm that sensor data is of the quality oped to provide artificial vision for
required for safe/effective operations. autonomous systems at a fraction of the cur-
• Processing – most navigational sensor rent energy costs of existing technology.
201 8 EXTR A DISTR IBUTIONS
systems are designed for use by people, In summary, there are exciting
who manually process and fuse data advances being made in sensing technolo-
(e.g. radar operators know to ignore gy that will better enable autonomous sys-
clutter and manually look along the tems to gather exponentially more, and a
bearing to visually confirm the track). greater variety of, data. We however fore-
The programming required to ‘train’ see that the challenge will be making sense
AI systems is sophisticated and complex. of this vast quantity of data and processing
• Resilience – trained crew configure it with appropriate levels of fidelity to gen- FEBRUARY/MARCH AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
equipment for the prevailing conditions erate the levels of situational awareness APM, 14-16 March SMM, 4-7 September
and assess relevant information, taking that future autonomous systems will need Cyber APM, 15 March DS Cyber Challenge @ SMM, 5 September
CMA, 12-14 March CIO Rotterdam, 27 September
into account how the conditions have to successfully operate in complex mar-
DS Cyber Rotterdam, 27 March
affected sensor range and sensitivity, to itime environments. Satellite 2018, 12-15 March
gain situational awareness of the vessel We believe that the main challenges will OCTOBER
DS Athens, 7-8 November
and surrounding environment. When not be associated with the hardware, but
APRIL/MAY CIO Singapore, 10 October
sensors fail, the crew can detect the fail- with the software and processing ele- ShippingInsight Connecticut, October 15-17
Sea Japan, 11-13 April
ure and, if needed, revert to traditional ments. This will require smart uses of sen- VPO @ Sea Japan, 11-13 April iShipping Middle East, mid-October (TBC)
techniques. Fully autonomous vessels sor fusion techniques, Big Data processing, Danish Maritime Fair, 2-4 May VPO Copenhagen, end October (TBC)
will need to overcome system failure and intelligent systems to condense vast CIO Hamburg, 24 April
DS Big Data Oslo, 29 May
without manual intervention. quantities of raw sensory data into action- NOVEMBER
able information. CIO Shanghai, 28 November
Sensors will continue to develop. In the near Connectivity Posidonia, 4-8 June
DS Cyber Challenge @ Posidonia, 6 June
future, they will have the range and resolu- Contemporary maritime surface communi- DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
CIO Supply Chain London, 21 June International Workboat Show, (TBC)
tion required to automate key roles and cations technology typically falls into one of CIO Tokyo, 29 August DS Cyber Challenge London, 4 December
tasks on-board vessels, e.g. watchkeeping. two categories: Ship to near ship / shore
* This calendar is a guide and is subject to change without notice
The market for small sensors to fit on using VHF/MF (Very High Frequency /
small vessels is growing rapidly. This will Medium Frequency); or Ship to far ship / Editor – Digital Ship Magazine
Sales Manager – Magazine Advertising
continue the drive to improve cost effec- shore using satellite communications Ria Kontogeorgou Rob O’Dwyer
+44 (0)207 017 3442 +44 (0)208 144 6737
tive monitoring and the variety of sensors (Satcom) and HF (High Frequency) +44 (0)7815 481 036 odwyer@thedigitalship.com
ria@thedigitalship.com
will increase. The use of unmanned sys- There are several important communi-
tems will expand, enabling us to gather cations use cases for this technology, based
Search for The Digital Ship @TheDigitalShip Search for The Digital Ship
more data about our marine environment around maritime standards, including dis-
than ever before. tress and safety systems, identification sys- www.thedigitalship.com
trol all aspects of the ship’s physical and (multiple) high data rate services including tions. Here, ships on busy shipping lanes tracking and status updates being sent to
electronic systems. high definition video and real time radar could relay communications for one anoth- ground control sites and other vessels in
Next, the crew and passenger networks streams. These services can be expected to er, including beyond line of sight, as a the local area. The outcome of such a net-
will provide a range of operational and need multi-Mbps of data throughput, with cheap alternative to Satcom. work could make Automatic Identification
convenience services across the ship and high reliability. Fifth Generation (5G) is the next gener- Systems (AIS) obsolete, given the global
link up with the off-ship connectivity. Improvements in connectivity widen the ation of mobile, cellular communications, reach of the connectivity options available.
IoT technology on ships will rely on possibility of cyber security incidents. While following on from Long Term Evolution Some ships already have PNT backup
large amounts of electronic devices being safety critical systems are currently (LTE) and 4G. 5G has a role to play in sup- systems, potentially including marine
connected through a ship’s superstructure. stovepiped (due to the nature of their histor- plementing ship to shore communications, grade Inertial Navigation Systems (INS).
This is notoriously difficult given the num- ical development), the efficiency benefits of where studies with 4G have shown that However, these rapidly become inaccurate
ber and thickness of metal bulkheads and using common communications and com- with appropriate antenna and power con- and cannot be relied upon over extended
difficult to access areas. It will not be pos- puting platforms may become compelling. figurations optimised for this environment periods. For instance, an inaccuracy of one
sible to rely wholly on wired communica- In the automotive industry, a currently ranges of 100 km could be achieved. nautical mile per hour is typical.
tions, in particular when integrating with common method of cyber-attack is to tar- There is also a possibility of extending Future PNT backup systems include:
legacy shipping. get infotainment systems which then open 5G networks further out to sea, particular- Automated Celestial Navigation (through
Autonomous shipping will be critically up access to other critical systems. ly in busy shipping areas. In addition, 5G star tracking, though limited in some oper-
dependent on Position, Navigation and Autonomous maritime systems would do includes modes to specifically support IoT ating conditions, such as heavy cloud
Timing (PNT) systems to geo-locate them- well to consider security from the outset connectivity, which could be of value to cover); Signals of Opportunity (using sig-
selves. Currently, there is a high reliance and define solutions with a ‘defence in autonomous ship IoT architectures. nals that are transmitted for non-naviga-
on GNSS systems, which have an inher- depth’ mindset. There are many developments in tion purposes, but may be exploited for
ently low amount of received power at the Satcom that could revolutionise off-ship navigation purposes); and Quantum grade
Earth’s surface and are therefore prone to Comms future communications, in particular high band- INS (using cold atom interferometry),
interference. New communications technology will pre- width, low cost services derived from which has an inaccuracy of 1m per day but
GNSS can be made more robust through sent itself as an opportunity for maritime advances in technology in the Ku and Ka is still in an early stage of development and
high quality Multi-Constellation, Multi- systems. To support autonomous ships bands. Higher power satellites will change potentially ten years away from practical
Frequency (MCMF) receivers that use multi- through on-board IoT, it may be necessary the antenna profiles required and open up utility. DS
ple antennas to receive services across mul- to embrace wireless connectivity within the technology to more types of ships.
tiple constellations (e.g. GPS, GLONASS the ship. Multiband access will also allow ships This article is the second in a two-part
and Galileo and Beidou in the future). Different commodity technologies exist to switch between high throughput and series of abridged extracts from the
Spoofing of GNSS signals is an emerg- including: 60 GHz and Wi-Fi that would low cost services as required, while inter- Global Marine Technology Trends 2030
ing threat, where fake GNSS signals slow- need supplementing with ‘relay’ technolo- satellite communications links should also – Autonomous Systems report, published
ly slew a receiver away from its actual gy throughout the ship. This could include benefit the industry. These are already in by Lloyd’s Register, Qinetiq, and the Uni-
location. While MCMF techniques can sections of wired connectivity spanning service, but will continue to evolve as they versity of Southampton. The first article,
help, by spotting outliers in the received some sections. promise lower latency communications covering the legal and regulatory chal-
signals, the most robust defence would be A key technology will be Wireless Mesh than using ground station relay over very lenges of autonomous technology imple-
to use encrypted GNSS services where Networking (WMN), which is a general long ranges. mentation, appeared in the November
applicable, such as the Galileo Public means for automatically establishing mul- With a variety of methods for connect- 2017 issue of Digital Ship. The complete
Regulated Service. tiple paths through a network based on the ing and the data rates that accompany unabridged report can be downloaded at
Fully autonomous shipping will require available connectivity. WMN also has a them, maritime applications utilising the www.lr.org/GMTT2030
remote monitoring and this may require part to play with ship-to-ship communica- IoT concept will in time allow for live
Indian government in VDR deal Automated track control system launched by Alphatron
www.danelec-marine.com and is set to be completed by 2019. www.jrc.am late the required rudder output for the
“We are looking forward to this oppor- steering of the vessel to compensate for
Danelec Marine has announced a deal to tunity and working together with the Alphatron Marine has launched an auto- drift and stay on track.
supply its VDR technology to the govern- Indian military,” said Danelec Marine CEO, mated course and track control system for The captain can make adjustments from
ment of India, under a contract struck by Hans Ottosen. “Government agencies have the inland shipping segment that allows a the preset line as required, using a joystick
local distributor Marine Electricals. very high requirements for the reliability of ship to sail automatically along a prede- based control system.
The deal, a first Indian government con- the equipment, so it is also a great recogni- fined line. AlphaRiverTrack can be combined with
tract for the company, covers the outfitting tion for our company and products.” AlphaRiverTrack has been developed an existing AlphaRiver pilot, or imple-
of newly built ships with Voyage Data Marine Electricals will oversee the ini- in conjunction with German company mented as part of a new installation. Only
Recorders (VDRs), including 12 coast tial installations of hardware provided by Argonics, and allows a ship to automati- a small configuration adjustment to the
guard patrol boats, and retrofitting on six Danelec, as well as providing service for a cally sail a planned set of tracks on the autopilot is required to add the new track
navy frigates. Production begins in 2018 minimum of 10 years. chart system. The system will also calcu- function, Alphatron says.
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