Future of ships

Professional Mariner Forum
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They can release press statements until they’re blue in the face, but it doesn’t change the facts. We are so far from the remote control center they present in their video, it’s more science fiction than reality.

I think they’re reaching a little outside their grasp. There are certainly things we can do to increase automation, but instead of just going for the low-hanging fruit, their vision is all-or-nothing. I think this about cars as well–why not just automate interstate driving? Just maintain your lane, and don’t run anybody over, give me an alarm if I reach my exit or need to take over. We’re almost there now.

On another note, sure us deckies may be the first to go, but don’t think we’ll all be flipping burgers. I’d come back out with a 3 A/E license so fast it’d wipe the smile right off a lot of the smug (engineering) faces around. I can’t be the only one thinking that, either.

“VP of Innovation”, now that’s the job title I want!

125

They say technological advancement is exponential. Our conception of the expected timeframe, based on past experience, may not be valid… We’ll see

However, we still don’t have hover-boards, or flying cars.

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[QUOTE=Salty_;183534]They can release press statements until they’re blue in the face, but it doesn’t change the facts. We are so far from the remote control center they present in their video, it’s more science fiction than reality.

I think they’re reaching a little outside their grasp. There are certainly things we can do to increase automation, but instead of just going for the low-hanging fruit, their vision is all-or-nothing. I think this about cars as well–why not just automate interstate driving? Just maintain your lane, and don’t run anybody over, give me an alarm if I reach my exit or need to take over. We’re almost there now.

On another note, sure us deckies may be the first to go, but don’t think we’ll all be flipping burgers. I’d come back out with a 3 A/E license so fast it’d wipe the smile right off a lot of the smug (engineering) faces around. I can’t be the only one thinking that, either.

“VP of Innovation”, now that’s the job title I want![/QUOTE]

Rolls-Royce Marine is not Bjorkmann. They are a major company in the development of marine technology and not prone to spending their time and money on science fiction. (You may have heard of them in other industries as well?)
Their R&D department for Marine Technology is situated a stones throw from my house here in Aalesund, Norway
They spend a lot of time and money on R&D to stay ahead of their competitors, who are also situated here in this district. (Ulstein, Vard, Marine Teknikk, Skipsteknisk, Havyard, ABB and others)

I agree, it is not likely that you will see any civilian “Autonomous ships” developed and built in USA anytime soon, but you may see some operating in US waters sometime in the next decade or so.
The first such vessels are likely going to be restricted to the Baltic and North Sea, as it will take a lot more to get world wide acceptance and approval.

Since there will be no living quarters, LSA or other things required to have crew on board there will not be any seagoing jobs on such ships, so I don’t think you should put much hope into wiping the smug smile from the faces of engineers by becoming one.
Engineers will still be needed to do maintenance and repairs while these vessels are in port, however.

The Deck Officers will have to find their jobs in Control Centres, Management positions, Administration and in Regulatory bodies.

In both cases they will work close to home.

That is not to say that there will not be even low ranking jobs at sea for a loooong time to come, just not on the autonomous ships.

127

[QUOTE=Slick Cam;183535]They say technological advancement is exponential. Our conception of the expected timeframe, based on past experience, may not be valid… We’ll see

However, we still don’t have hover-boards, or flying cars.[/QUOTE]

Hover board does exist: http://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-the-most-promising-hoverboards-actually-work/

Even kids can build them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HI137m7XA4

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[QUOTE=ombugge;183553]The Deck Officers will have to find their jobs in Control Centres, Management positions, Administration and in Regulatory bodies.
[/QUOTE]

They do that now. That is one of the reasons why the regulatory environment is so fucked up in so many ways.

Let them work in the lunch rooms that serve the duty engineers operating and maintaining the control rooms.

129

Ombugge,

Until we can grab a board that hovers via levitation, jump on it, and zoom across town, we dont have hover-boards. Demonstrators that only work in specialized environments dont count. Nor do helicopters mounted to people’s feet.

130

As an engineer robot ships require a delicate touch… http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xGi6j2VrL0o

131

Lloyds Register is joining in the race to regulate the future Autonomous ships: http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/lr-defines-autonomy-levels-for-ship-design-and-operation/
They take it step by step.

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[QUOTE=ombugge;187028]Lloyds Register is joining in the race to regulate the future Autonomous ships: http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/lr-defines-autonomy-levels-for-ship-design-and-operation/
They take it step by step.[/QUOTE]

I went to a talk given by Lloyds to the Marine Architecture students at UBC last fall. It was a summary of their 10 year industry technology forecast. They presented a few cool toys and made a few scary predictions (although they seemed to be blissfully unaware). Before it started, I was drawing attention because I had just come from school and was still in my uniform. The marine architect students asked me who I was, and I explained. I explained a lot, because they didn’t understand me. They didn’t know what a ship’s engineer was, and thought that I might be one of them who was dressed as a waiter for some reason. When I finally managed to make myself understood, one of them said to me, “really? I thought that was automated.” I nearly choked. These are the men who are going to design ships? Then there was the talk itself, predicting that a PhD in a control room in a city could run an unmanned ship by himself. Because experience counts for nothing at sea, a stuck valve can always be fixed by a few clicks of the mouse, dangerous cargos can be handled safely with blinking lights, and emergencies can be dealt with by video gamers with laggy connections.

There’re no PhDs or grad students who want to listen to a mechanic from a tech school. If I’d told those eggheads that water is wet, they would have laughed off my obviously unqualified opinion.

I wasn’t feeling well when I left.

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133

Lloyds Register is a Classification Society and set guidelines for the construction and equipment for autonomous ships only:

“We are working with clients to create the new generations of cyber ship safety, security and maintenance monitoring and performance guidance that will help secure improved performance and return on investment. Autonomy is one part of our cyber shipping opportunities.”

Nobody is talking about putting some PhD types into a control room somewhere to control or supervise the operation of such ships.
This subject has been discussed in several threads and the outline of how it will work is becoming quite clear.
It will likely be reality in Scandinavia first and is unlikely to be seen in North America for a long time yet.

134

[QUOTE=Emrobu;187030] I was drawing attention because I had just come from school and was still in my uniform.[/QUOTE]

You walk around like some kind of peacock?

Sometimes the 10 minutes it takes to change clothes, is worth the time.

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[QUOTE=ombugge;187032]
Nobody is talking about putting some PhD types into a control room somewhere to control or supervise the operation of such ships.[/QUOTE]

You’d like to think so, but actually this is what the Lloyds representative said. It was in her big fancy full color report, and on her presentation slides. It is, in fact, being talked about.

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[QUOTE=Kraken;187033]You walk around like some kind of peacock?

Sometimes the 10 minutes it takes to change clothes, is worth the time.[/QUOTE]

For sure. I wear street clothes whenever I can. At that time I was living on a “nearby” island. Going home to change would have been a 4 hour trip with 3 ferry trips. I would have missed the talk for sure. As it was, I missed the last ferry home and had to crash on a friend’s couch and wear the same clothes to school the next day. My own fault for choosing to bop on down to the university on a whim. At least there was free pizza.

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[QUOTE=Emrobu;187034]You’d like to think so, but actually this is what the Lloyds representative said. It was in her big fancy full color report, and on her presentation slides. It is, in fact, being talked about.[/QUOTE]

Well maybe some do, but the people that is actually working with the development of the technology is not.
I was attending a presentation by some of them a few weeks ago and that is not how they are planning it.

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[QUOTE=ombugge;187036]Well maybe some do, but the people that is actually working with the development of the technology is not.
I was attending a presentation by some of them a few weeks ago and that is not how they are planning it.[/QUOTE]

I do hope you’re right.

139

Autonomous ships were the subject of discussion at the SSM in Hamburg this year: http://splash247.com/roadmap-autonomous-ships-outlined-smm/

You may as well get used to the idea. It is getting closer, whether we like it or not.
Autonomous cars are a reality and will be on the world wide market in a year or two
The first driver less Taxi service is operating in Singapore. (Only one vehicle, so far though)

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Wartsila also pitch in with their vision of the future of shipping: http://www.wartsila.com/media/news/06-09-2016-wartsila-presents-its-visions-of-future-shipping

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Don’t take my word for it, this is from gcapatain newsletter today: https://gcaptain.com/finland-targets-2025-for-autonomous-shipping/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+(gCaptain.com)

Nobody say it will be wide spread by 2025, but that autonomous ships will exist, probably in Scandinavia and maybe in the North Sea.
Don’t worry, it will take a lot longer before it will affect US shipping.

142

when you look at the the very basic accidents around Singapore, clearly there is nobody aboard already

143

[QUOTE=powerabout;190771]when you look at the the very basic accidents around Singapore, clearly there is nobody aboard already[/QUOTE]

Maybe those accidents happened BECAUSE there were people on board? If computers were making decisions on both vessels involved, could it be that there would not be any mistakes made??

What if VTS Operators had the possibility to take control of the vessel(s) in stead of just warning them of the danger and advise, then watch helplessly as the wrong action is taken?

Could such man made accidents as those continuously happening off Singapore be avoided if the human factor was removed?

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