Autonomous Ships

Introduction

Remote and autonomous ships have the potential to redefine the maritime industry and the roles of the players in it with implications for shipping companies, shipbuilders and maritime systems providers, as well as technology companies from other (especially the automotive) sectors.

Modern ships already include complex automated systems. This technological development has allowed for a gradual reduction in onboard manning.  Increased data collection, processing and interconnectivity capabilities, enabling the automated systems to be controlled remotely or through artificial intelligence, may gradually further reduce manning and ultimately result in unmanned ships. This has the potential to increase safety, improve the environmental performance of, and enable more cost-effective shipping. The technologies for this are maturing rapidly, but it is still questionable whether their implementation would ensure the safe operation of ships.

The operation of remote and autonomous ships will need to be at least as safe as existing vessels if they are to secure regulatory approval, the support of ship owners, operators, seafarers and wider public acceptance.

For remote controlled and autonomous shipping to become a reality, efforts are needed at all regulatory levels. Whilst some projects are already underway the legal challenges of constructing and operating vessels need to be explored and more fully understood, while simultaneously considering appropriate rule changes at the IMO.

Conference Topics

RINA invites papers from ship designers, builders, operators, classification societies, legislative government bodies and organisations/companies with experience in other related autonomous domains, on topics including:

• Maritime remote-control technology
• Automated onboard systems
• Autonomous technology
• E-navigation
• Impact on maritime workforce and human factors
• Environmental impact
• Legal implications and maritime regulations
• Case studies and research projects

Registration

Registration for this event is now closed. 

Conference Proceedings

The conference proceedings will be offered on digital format. RINA members:£30, Non members: £60.  Please place your orders to  

Conference Venue

The Autonomous Ships conference will be held online using Zoom. https://zoom.us/
It is not necessary to have a Zoom account to attend the Meetings, but those attending will be asked to download the Zoom App if not already downloaded. If you are unable to download, install, or run applications you may join from your browser. However, the meeting experience from the browser is limited.

Preliminary Programme

Day 1 11:00 - 15:30

11:00 - 11:05 Welcome

11:05 - 11:40 TOWARDS AUTONOMOUS SHIPS – FLAG STATE INVOLVEMENT AND REGULATORY ASPECTS C. Balls, Cayman Registry, Cayman Islands

11:40 - 12:15 PAVING THE WAY TOWARDS AUTONOMOUS SHIPPING DEVELOPMENT FOR EUROPEAN WATERS – THE AUTOSHIP PROJECT G. Theotokatos, V. Bolbot, E. Boulougouris, University of Strathclyde, UK

12:15 - 12:50 CHALLENGES OF MISSION PLANNING FOR COLLABORATIVE MARITIME AUTONOMY S.R. Turnock, T.S. Hoang, S.J. Johnston, J. Downes University of Southampton, UK / J. Lam, and B. Pritchard, Thales Maritime Autonomy Centre, UK

12:50 - 13:35 Break

13:35 - 14:10 DEVELOPING THE MARLAB MARINE AUTONOMOUS SURFACE SHIPS DATA PROJECT R. J. H. Blazejczyk, Solis Marine Consultants, UK /  W. J. Ellison, MariTrace, UK / S. Hindley, Solis Marine Engineering, UK

14:10 - 14:45 CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN FOR AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER TRANSPORTATION USING FOUR SEAPERCH HAUVS  F. U. Rehman, G. Thomas and E. Anderlini, University College London, UK / S. Khalid and Z. Riaz, Pakistan Navy Engineering College, Pakistan

14:45 - 15:30 Discussion

Day 2 11:00 - 15:00

11:00 - 11:05 Welcome

11:05 - 11:40 AUTONOMOUS SHIP: MANOEUVRING AND CONTROL IN LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT A. Chandra Dubey, V. A. Subramanian and P. Krishnankutty, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

11:40 - 12:15 REMOTE REGION SEARCH & RESCUE RESPONSE – AIR DEPLOYED REMOTELY CONTROLLED MARINE CRAFT J. Dalziel, R. Pelot,  Dalhousie University, Canada

12:15 - 13:00 Break

13:00 - 13:35 THE IMPACT OF SEA CURRENT ON UNDERWATER TRANSPORTATION USING FOUR AUVS F. U. Rehman, E. Anderlini and G. Thomas, University College London, UK

13:35 - 14:10 NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSES OF VARIABLE BUOYANCY SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE B. K. Tiwari and R. Sharma, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

14:10 - 15:00 Discussion

**UK time (BST, UTC+1)

**Presentation time includes Q&A of approximately 10 minutes

**The conference agenda may be subject to change

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