Speak of autonomous vehicle, what will you think of? There is autonomous automobile, unmanned aerial vehicle, but have you heard of autonomous ship? An enterprise in Norway develops an autonomous ship project called “YARA Birkeland”.
The application is similar to autonomous automobile, autonomous ship applies global positioning system, radar, camera, and sensor. It can avoid obstacles on the seaway to finish the mission without human manipulation.
Photo courtesy: http://36kr.com/p/5084806.html
There are several advantages.
Cost: It can save labor cost and fuel consumption.
Design: It can gain more boatload by removing crew space, ventilation, rest room, and every space that was prepare for sailors.
Safety: Based on a report from Allianz, 75% to 96% of accident is caused by human. Apparently, autonomous ship can do better than that.
Environment: Autonomous ship applies electricity only, which is good for energy saving and carbon reduction.
The cost for building an autonomous ship is high, but autonomous vehicle is the future. The policy will be a challenge. So far autonomous ship is forbidden to sail. Beyond that, the port also has to be upgraded. These efforts may take years to be done.
Although this is just a startup stage for autonomous ship, you may see a ship without crew in the ocean in the near future.
Photo courtesy: http://mtelegraph.com/unmanned-ships.html
Source: http://36kr.com/p/5084806.html