The potential of uncrewed and autonomous ships

ABSTRACT

Driven primarily by economic considerations, the maritime transportation industry has continuously evolved over the years. In recent times, economic consideration has shifted the focus of technology developers to experiment and refine automation onboard ships. However, since the maritime industry is a slow mover in adopting disruptive technologies due to inherent economic considerations, the acceptance and policy making for full utilisation of the benefits of automated technologies is limited. It thus becomes essential to understand and study the possible potential of uncrewed and autonomous ships in the maritime transportation sector which would eventually help provide the correct and required impetus to studies and development of technologies to support uncrewed and autonomous ships. Though numerous critical questions need to be addressed before either ‘uncrewed’ or ‘autonomous’ ships can be successfully and/ or economically utilised, the article aims to address the question of ‘the potential of uncrewed and autonomous ships’ as a start point to assist and motivate the growth of these platforms.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Conversion based on the average exchange rate of 2014 @ 1 INR = 0.0164 USD.

2 WIG crafts are multimodal crafts that in its main operational mode, flies in close proximity to the surface by utilising surface effect.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nitin Agarwala

Nitin Agarwala is a serving naval officer who has experienced various facets of a warship as a user, designer, inspector, maintainer, policymaker, teacher and a researcher. He has authored over 70 articles, papers and book chapters and two books. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the views or policies of the Government of India or the Indian Navy.