Future of ships

One view of Future of transportation, incl. by sea:

UK register first unmanned vessel:

Interesting article.
Although the geographical knowledge of the author leave some to be desired:

Maybe he is trying to compete with Sarah Palin in long vision?

Digitalization is the future of ships and shipping and standardisation the way to go, says DNV-GL:

What does the insurers think of the development towards autonomous ships?:

It is not just a few enthusiasts and dreamers that is interested in the ongoing development of autonomous ships.
Here is a link to the Norwegian Forum for Autonomous Ships (NFAS):
http://nfas.autonomous-ship.org/members-en.html

DNV-GL is heavily into standardization and digitalization of Shipping:

The optimum steaming distance to a rig is a day and a half from the shore base. The company man knows that if he keeps both boats out it will take him 3 days plus loading time to get it. Both boats get time alongside and all is well with the world.

This article in Splash 24/7 today should be music to the ears of many here:


It correspond to what I predicted in post # 642, although my prediction was the FIRST autonomous ship in ocean crossing operation in 10-20 years. It will take many years from there before such ships become the norm.

Things move pretty fast in the maritime industry when the powers that be want them to. I remember 10 years ago looking at the designs for ULCV’s and trying to wrap my head around them. Now 18k+ TEU container ships are everywhere and they’re scrapping 5 year old 10k TEU ships.

While I am in the corner of keeping the profession of seafaring sacrosanct for generations to come, the realist in me knows that the goal will be to replace people on ships as soon as possible. The only real variables in the shipping industry will always be crew costs and fuel. Knock out the crew and you’re down to one variable.

Another with negative thoughts about automation and reduced manning:

Slam the beancounters all we like but have they ever been beaten?

No one, no industry, is creating wealth any more, they are just swapping buckets of beans and the the game is to get as many of the other guy’s beans as possible by any means possible and ship’s crews are seen as a waste of beans.

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Beer delivery has come a long way since horse and wagon transport:

[quote]
BOXSHIP SET FOR ELECTRIC CONVERSION? Written by Rhys Berry
Heineken, Nedcargo and the Port of Rotterdam are looking into the possibility of replacing the diesel generators of a containership with an ‘emissionless’ alternative such as batteries, hydrogen or a combination of the two The concept was discussed during a meeting of industry stakeholders earlier this month which looked at how to achieve zero-emission sailing between Alphen aan den Rijn and the port of Rotterdam. ‘I think there were a lot of parties present [at the meeting], who want to invest in this, who have a lot of knowledge,’ said Nedcargo’s Bert van Grieken. ‘I’ve heard many good questions, suggestions and ideas.’ Ankie Janssen, Business Developer LNG, Port of Rotterdam, added: ‘We want clean, climate-friendly and
future-proof inland shipping. That has a big strategic interest for us. We’re going to set up projects to show the market there are people who will and can do this. It can be done without emissions.’ Heineken Nederland Supply’s Sustainable Development Manager, Jan Kempers, was equally enthusiastic. ‘Today went better than I could have hoped. At a certain point I asked them who was really willing to participate to write a project proposal and to eventually organise the project. Three quarters of the attendees stood up. That really touched me in a positive way.’ He added: ‘It’s going to happen. No doubt about it. We are going to produce the first electric inland vessel for containers.’ As previously reported, in June, Heineken Netherlands and Nedcargo teamed up with sustainable fuels manufacturer GoodFuels. The trio launched a pilot to demonstrate a sustainable drop-in marine fuel onboard the For-Ever – an inland barge which transports Heineken export beer from the Heineken brewery in Zoeterwoude to the deep-sea terminals in Rotterdam. Source : Bunkerspot #[/quote]

That is after going green with bio-fuel for transport of beer from the brewery to Rotterdam:

China is also in on the act. The first fully electric inland ship has been launched:
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/chinas-first-all-electric-zero-emissions-cargo-ship-is-going-to-be-used-to-transport-coal/
It will run a regular route on the Pearl River and carry coal to produce the power it needs to recharge batteries.

Oh the irony. An electric powered coal carrier.

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This is an interesting video talking about the limitations of batteries and why we will likely never safely get much better than current battery technology. I doubt that worldwide trading ships will ever be fully electric.

Fully electric yes, but with hydrogen fuel cells to produce the power, possibly with batteries as back-up and temporary storage.

But where do you get the hydrogen?

It has been discussed at great length here before,
It has also been in gcaptain newsletter several times, latest today:
http://gcaptain.com/zero-emission-hydrogen-powered-ship-delivered-in-step-toward-cleaner-cargo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+(gCaptain.com)&goal=0_f50174ef03-74168f3486-169863069&mc_cid=74168f3486&mc_eid=4674ba0fbe
And in this article from 01. May 2017:
http://gcaptain.com/norway-races-australia-to-fulfill-japans-hydrogen-society-eream/