Future of ships

Printers print printers… that may not happen, inbreeding leads to genetic disorders.

Moreover, who will transport the “ink” for the billion of printers?

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Oh maybe they’ll just print some??

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All I know is that you will never go fully unmanned using the unreliable maintenance hog that is the combination of a large two stroke and heavy fuel.

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A milling machine can make a milling machine, add some machine learning and…

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recycled plastic?

Shipping is more than just containers full of manufactured goods.
Try printing iron ore, oil, LNG, grain and other commodities.

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Actually, I was hoping to print gold bars and diamonds! Why bother with ship spare parts?

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More on the subject of sail on ships of the future:

The modern day alchemist?

i reckon working human organs will be worth more?

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Another company with strong financial backing is entering the field of autonomous shipping development:

A long article written by Oskar Levander, Vice President Inovation and RRM’s head of development of autonomous ships:

It is an interesting article. The statistics quoted for accidents to shipping by humans makes great copy but there is no corresponding statistic for situations where an incident was prevented from occurring by a vessels crew.
If a seine net fishing boat can operate a helicopter then so can a resourceful pirate.
At this time I cannot see the time when a foreign flag vessel unmanned and controlled from the other side of the world could make a coastal passage between two US ports. Considering that the master of a coastal ferry makes the same amount of money as a long haul truck driver this to seems to be a stretch as to the return on capital. Ferry operators here have to crowd control training and I am not sure how this works when there is no crew.
For the moment I have no doubt that a vessel can run between two terminals safely with no crew within the territorial waters of a country but to extend this to a fully commercial operation with any other cargo except an inert bulk cargo is some way off.

If a 20,000 TEU containership has a 20 man crew, that’s 1000 TEU per man.

Let’s assume the ship makes one voyage per month.

If the average cost of foreign crew is $1000 per month, and there are 20 men moving 20,000 containers, the crew cost is $1 per TEU. In other words, the crew costs almost nothing.

A figure frequently mentioned for US longshoremen costs is $100 per move. The way the Longshoremen operated the typical container is going to be moved at least three times before it leaves the port, costing $300. Let’s say half of the $300, or $150 is labor.

That’s $150 in transportation cost for Longshoremen vs. $1 for Foreign Mariners.

Why are we wasting time and money to create autonomous ships to save $1 when an autonomous dock would save $150. Plus, the near autonomous dock has been done. Rotterdam already has nearly autonomous container handling.

I don’t see how this expensive autonomous equipment can be installed and maintained on a ship for less than $1 per TEU.

Creating an autonomous ship to avoid crew costs is wasting money to solve a nonexistent cost issue.

Money would be much better spent on existing and proven technology for autonomous container docks.

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The container port in Auckland is well on the way with driverless straddle carriers.

What will happen when the longshoremen become obsolete?

the world will be a better place…

No doubt that pirates can find a way to hijack a ship without crew, either physically or possibly by taking control from close quarters. It is also no doubt that a system will be installed to detect any boarding or attempt at taking control remotely, in which case the propulsion can be automatically stopped and systems disabled so the vessel will be dead in the water.
With no crew to ransom, or to be commanded to sail the ship, what good is it to the pirates?? No incentive to make the effort.

Any ship or ferry carrying pax will still have to be manned for safety reason, even if it is operated remotely or autonomously. Nobody is proposing to sail a ferry across a fjord with cars and pax on board without having a crew to organise evacuation, if that should be necessary.

To navigate a ship autonomously across oceans is already technically possible, but not yet legally possible. To make it an unmanned crossing will require propulsion and other machinery to be of a type that do not require attendance to operate continuously for lengthy periods. Personalty I doubt that a slow speed diesel run on HFO will be the solution, but hydrogen fuel cells are in rapid development and will be available by the time rules and regulation has been agreed to allow large unmanned ships on international voyages.

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The Koreans are active in maritime innovation: