Today\u2019s cargo handling industry doesn\u2019t look much different to that of 10, or even 20 years ago. Sure, assets \u2013 ships, cranes, ports \u2013 are larger, but the actual handling process is by-and-large the same. However, the evolution of the container to bigger hubs on bigger vessels, requiring bigger cranes, bigger quays and deeper water has proved to be \u201ca very costly business for those trying to keep pace,\u201d says Oskar Levander of Rolls-Royce.<\/p>\n
But according to Mr Levander, \u201can autonomous ship can offer efficiency \u2013 without those so-called, expensive economies of scale\u201d.<\/p>\n
If, as he suggests, you strip out the life support systems and even the bridge, the result is a lighter, more economical ship. Then add a modular design, pre-tested elements coming straight from the factory and the end product \u201cwill be significantly cheaper than the vessels of today\u201d he explains, undermining the business case for the Goliaths of recent years.<\/p>\n
According to his calculations, \u201cfive of these hyper-efficient, smaller vessels on direct calls could undercut one big ship taking the same amount of cargo… and making the whole journey end-to-end, it will still, in a lot of cases, prove quicker than going through a hub\u201d.<\/p>\n
More to the point for the terminals, smaller vessels won\u2019t demand the long reach cranes or deeper drafts. Mr Levander predicts that it may well force a change in the calls, rather like the low-cost airlines did ten years ago,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you remember, these new companies didn\u2019t go to the big airports \u2013 they went to their neighbours who were keener to get the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conveyor belts<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a challenging view, but he\u2019s not alone in believing it could spark a revolution. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of interest in the idea,\u201d says Bj\u00f8rn-Johan Vartdal of DNV GL. He adds that autonomous vessels might help quicken another element \u2013 by enabling a slowdown. \u201cCombining autonomy with electrification means you can make shortsea or inland transport move a lot more slowly than crew would normally accept – allowing for the use of pure electric or plug-in ships.\u201d Operations would tick along \u201clike a conveyor belt\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an idea that DNV GL has been playing around with under its ReVolt project: this predicts enough savings over diesel-driven vessels (more than $1m a year per ship) to pull traffic from the roads.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, ports will have to accommodate the infrastructure, things like recharging points on the quay,\u201d he explains, but it could be attractive: after all the metronome-like momentum will help regulate the flow of cargo \u2013 and make it stick.<\/p>\n However, not all agree, at least not entirely. Jan Willem Verkiel of the Port of Rotterdam isn\u2019t convinced that there\u2019s \u201can immediate business case\u201d in the short term. In his view, these operations will initially be expensive beasts, and given the state of play of the cargo industry \u201ceven clever cost-cutting exercises won\u2019t be enough\u201d to convince investors.<\/p>\n However, even if the timing is debatable, he concurs \u201cit\u2019s the way the world is going… after all, we already have a fully automated terminal… and it is a logical step\u201d. Further, it seems he\u2019s already had \u201cseveral discussions\u201d about how the rise of autonomous shipping could change the face of some of the port\u2019s businesses, for example making tug services and pilotage \u201ca very different game\u201d.<\/p>\n Chain reaction<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Levander says changes associated with autoships will dig deep. Digitalisation of the market \u201cmeans supply chains could now be optimised for the entire production chain \u2013 rather than just one leg\u201d. He explains: \u201cEveryone talks about efficiency stripping out costs, but shipping prices aren\u2019t always the primary concern. After all, if you have an automobile factory running out of engines, the impact of the line coming to a halt is far more than the cost of the logistics: if you can, it\u2019d be far better to switch routes.\u201d<\/p>\n These sudden changes of schedule will have to be automated: the shifting scenarios will be faster and more complex than \u201canything the human brain could handle\u201d, he explains. Therefore, it won\u2019t necessarily be the ports with the deepest draft, but the ones that are software savvy and \u2018network literate\u2019 that will attract this new generation of ships. And the overall winners will be those that allow automated systems to take on the bulk of the data transfer.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Rotterdam is already on the lower slopes of this change: it\u2019s looking at a digital transition and considering automating elements such as its VTS, port co-ordination and planning. Mr Verkiel says this new technology may soon be running complete system-to-system information exchanges with some incoming ships, bypassing the humans in the back office entirely.<\/p>\n Mr Vartdal goes further: just a little push could drive the trend right into the supply chain itself: \u201cAt the moment you have a number of smart systems, but you have humans in the loop, which actually slows the flow of information down. If you move over to completely digital information sharing then you can build a grid with a common awareness.” This would be based on all the available data “and able to react very fast\u201d. He adds inevitably, \u201cyou will eventually want to take the people out of the loop\u201d, but he admits he sees resistance until the case is proven.<\/p>\n Addressing practicalities<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not just \u2018blue sky thinking\u2019; some developments are already underway. Trondheimsfjord, northern Norway, has put itself up as an official test bed for autonomous shipping by the Norwegian Coastal Authority.<\/p>\n But what about the \u2013 literal – impact on the wharf?<\/p>\n Eirik Hovstein of Maritime Robotics, part of the Autosea project using the Trondheim testbed, explains that an autonomous ship should \u201cbe able to berth itself without harming itself – or the quay\u201d. As Mr Vartdal adds: \u201cNavigationally there is no big obstacle, after all, planes are landing themselves – better than humans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cScanning and alignment will be essential,\u201d points out Mike Howie of Cavotec\u2019s Moormaster division, and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) to recognise vessels heading into the berth (a current company project), \u201cwould likely be a necessary addition\u201d. In Mr Vartdal\u2019s view, \u201cGPS won\u2019t be accurate enough for positioning, so the port will have to consider installing a local reference system\u201d.<\/p>\n If it sounds familiar, it should \u2013 these systems are not so far away from the kind of kit already installed in the yards of automated terminals. Further, while certain elements will need operators to step into some of the roles traditionally taken by crew, both Mr Hovstein and Mr Howie see automated mooring systems of the kind Cavotec has already developed as \u201ca natural progression\u201d of ship automation.<\/p>\n It helps that on investigation, a lot of it isn\u2019t totally novel territory: as Mr Howie points out, using established systems will help smooth a way through \u201cthe large number of technical and regulatory challenges\u201d ahead.<\/p>\n Common approach<\/strong><\/p>\n But one area is new: unlike a segregated yard, these vessels will have to navigate a common fairway.<\/p>\n On this subject, Mr Hovstein remains sanguine, saying that given the appropriate sensors \u201cautonomous ships will \u2026 be able to recognise other vessels both reliably and consistently enough to sail safely in a harbour\u201d and points out that well-known \u201ccommon rules\u201d will apply \u2013 further, clear markings and navigation lights will help other port users identify these vessels.<\/p>\n Having said that, Mr Vartdal explains: \u201cThe biggest challenges are not around interaction with regular shipping as these comply with established COLREGs, but when the rules are upset by irrational behaviour… say, from people in a rowing boat.\u201d He points out the system has to be capable of detecting and assessing every alternative, then \u201cmake its own decisions… which may mean choosing between the lesser of two evils in a critical situation\u201d.<\/p>\n However, both are confident that the issues will be resolved, although Mr Hovestein adds there will probably need to be \u201ca supervisory system… so that port authorities will have the complete overview\u201d.<\/p>\n But, as an extension, will the port authorities want to have the option of taking over the vessel\u2019s controls? Mr Verkiel says that the port simply might not find it comfortable to be put in that position. He explains: \u201cSo far, it\u2019s been very simple. In the normal world of today, we don\u2019t take over anything, the responsibility always lies with the master of the ship, even when we have pilots on board.\u201d The rise of unmanned vessels and low-cost smart shipping could revolutionise ports, writes Stevie Knight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-2528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-container-cargo-handling"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2528"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=2528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Given all these issues, he concludes: \u201cThe whole issue of responsibility is going to be very interesting for the new technology – and the rules that we will have to develop to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"