ANALYSIS • NORDIC INNOVATION
company’s vp of innovation, engineering and technology, is in his element preparing for vessel automation, pointing out how shipping can no longer afford to be ‘the black hole of the global supply chain.’
R-R has also introduced a 1,000teu Electric Blue container feeder which, Levander says, is ‘remote-operation ready’. The scaleable modular design is based on placing key elements of the ship – including engines, bunker tanks and accommodation – into containers which can be easily swapped or replaced over time, thereby helping ‘future-proof’ the owner’s asset against new regulations, for example on emissions, marine fuels or ballast water.
Meanwhile, within the next few weeks, a stretch of water off the Finnish coast will be earmarked for testing marine remote control and autonomous technologies. Probably in the Gulf of Finland, commercial shipping will be excluded from the area in which a group of companies, including R-R, are working together to develop and test technologies which could see remote- controlled or even autonomous coastal vessels in operation by 2025.
The testing area will not only be used for trials of digital technologies on board vessels, according to Kari Saari, a senior advisor at Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications. It will also be integrated with the country’s
Milestones on road to autonomous shipping
‘intelligent fairways’ programme in which a range of additional data including prevailing weather, water and seabed data will be available to ships to assist in operational optimisation. No surprise, then, that R-R is raising its Finnish profile.
By Paul Bartlett Uber of the Seas
Numerous ships trading regularly from Finland to Europe but sailing half-empty on the return leg prompted calls for coordinated action and trigged the nation’s ‘Uber of the Seas’ project.
Uber of the Seas is more than just a collaboration of shipyards, engine builders, ports, logistics and cargo, explains Karri Mikkonen, R&D manager at Turku Science Park Ltd, and aims to create the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly short sea logistics system.
The three-year Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications (AAWA) project is already underway, aiming to prepare competencies for autonomous shipping, writes Henrik Segercrantz.
A number of leading industry players are taking part in AAWA. For example, Inmarsat is looking into the communications side, DNV GL overseeing classification matters and the Finnish Transport Agency examining Flag State regulatory issues.
Proof of concept through operation of a prototype coastal vessel is due to take place in 2018, for which funding has yet to be finalised. Finnish shipowners Finnferries and ESL Shipping are also participating in the project.
Ecosystem for Autonomous Ships is a separate new research programme, intended to set up the world’s first operational entire autonomous ship system by 2025. ‘The aim is to create a business ecosystem which can actually achieve this,’ says Sauli Eloranta, svp at Rolls-Royce Marine. ‘It is more
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about lobbying and liaising, with new legislation and the IMO seen not as obstacles but rather milestones to be passed on the way towards autonomous shipping.
‘The project in itself is much larger than originally thought,’ he continues. ‘It is about developing management, how shipowners’ assets are used. It is about a new culture of building ships, but also about changing and developing the entire transportation and logistics chain. It is not only about operating a ship remotely, or autonomously, without a crew.’
One task is to create common platforms and industry standards, and here liaison work is to be carried out with the IMO through the Maritime Safety Committee. Finland is also helping prepare a joint Nordic Working Paper on the subject to be submitted to the international body. Early participants include Wartsila, ABB and Cargotec but ‘this is only a starting point and we are expanding more towards shipowners going forward,’ says Eloranta.
A number of tasks need solving, including creation of an open electronic marketplace for booking and optimising shipments, real- time route planning to decrease fuel costs and emissions, and an up-to-date and transparent communication system among the actors involved, he says.
Mega Unit containers and automatic cargo handling procedures are also being developed to maximise the use of space and minimise lead times, Mikkonen adds.
According to an Åbo Akademi University report entitled ‘Revolutionising short sea shipping' changing the business model could reduce cargo transportation costs by 25-35% and emissions by 30-35% for dry bulk and general cargo in the Baltic Sea area.
Moreover, it would be possible to transport cargo in smaller consignments and with greater scheduling flexibility without increasing overall transportation costs.
Participants in the Uber of the Seas project include Cargotec, Kellogg School of Management, Stanford University, Kuusakoski, Meriaura, Napa, Rauma Marine Constructions, Nordkalk, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University.
By Henrik Segercrantz Seatrade Maritime Review • Quarterly Issue 2 • June 2017
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