The presence of autonomous vessels in short sea shipping is becoming a commercial reality, the Coastlink 2027 conference will be told next April by an expert speaker in the field.<\/p>\n
Catrien Scheers is Chair of Fast Lines Belgium and has over 30 years of hands-on experience in short sea shipping, logistics and multimodal supply chains. She is actively involved in Fast\u2019s exploration of remote-assisted short sea shipping, including real-world trials in the North Sea.<\/p>\n
In her presentation to the pan-European Coastlink network, Catrien will share practical lessons on what is already possible, where barriers remain, and what needs to change to move from successful trials to scalable commercial operations.<\/p>\n
In her abstract she makes the case that short sea shipping is particularly well placed to lead vessel\u2019s digital technology transition to commercial reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message is simple: remote-assisted shipping should not be pursued because the technology is exciting. It should be pursued where it creates safer operations, more resilient supply chains, better working conditions and a stronger short sea proposition for customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future may not be a ship without people. It is about smarter ships, with people working differently and technology taking care of what technology does best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hosted by\u202fRotterdam Shortsea Terminals (RST) and the Port of Rotterdam from\u202f14\u201315 April 2027, the 25th<\/sup> Coastlink Conference will bring together industry leaders, policymakers and logistics experts from across the multimodal logistics and short sea shipping sectors.<\/p>\n