Autonomous ship is a marine vessel with sensors, automated navigation, propulsion and auxiliary systems, with the necessary decision logic to follow mission plans, sense the environment, adjust mission execution according to the environment, and potentially operate without human intervention. The maritime industry benefits by autonomous vessels since the latter includes operational efficiency, human error reduction, emission reduction, increased safety, and operational cost reduction.
The idea on the autonomous ship is accelerating through out the globe, being supported by governments. The alter from automated to autonomous shipping includes vessels that rely on quality,security and integrity of data, overall system cyber security and operational software.
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Also, autonomous vessels are unmanned or can be remotely controlled from off-board centres.
In addition, supporting autonomous shipping, ABS is currently collaborating with members, industry and regulators on autonomous vessel design, risk management and implementation.
Furthermore, ABS has joined the Unmanned Cargo Ship Development Alliance aiming to a design that will integrate features of independent decision-making, autonomous navigation, environmental perception and remote control.
Moreover, IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee on its 100th session on December 2018, approved the framework for regulatory scoping exercise on autonomous ships. The regulations were focused on the degrees of autonomy in maritime.
Yet, the MSC 100 pushed further regulatory work on shipping safety, with the adoption of amendments to the SPS Code and the STCW Code, as well as the approval of draft amendments and guidelines.
Finally, concerning the autonomous shipping, IMO’s Committee also agreed on draft amendments to the 2011 ESP Code forwarded to MSC 101 and their approval.
