Autonomous ships as prerequisite for coordinated autonomous maritime logistics systems

Maritime transport is an essential part of today´s logistics chains. Nevertheless, due to technical and environmental constraints as well as historical reasons, vessels are only partly connected to logistics networks. The demand for autonomous ships is basically motivated to increase substainability, competitiveness and growth of maritime transport itself, as stated by Europe´s Waterborne Technology Platform. Notwithstanding, it could furthermore enable a better integration of vessels into coordinated international logistics networks as a by-product. Furthermore, vessels as autonomous logistics entities would be an advantageous possibility to implement future logistics chains. Therefore the initial review concentrates on the eligibility of vessels as autonomous maritime logistics entities. Following it is explained how the development of autonomous vessels could be embedded into existing research activities in the field of ship operations. Navigation is regarded as one key challenge for development of autonomous ships. Especially the tasks route finding and collision avoidance are seen to be critical to derive the necessary information for a better integration into coordinated logistics systems. Based on a description of relevant navigation duties of an Officer on Watch (OOW) and his navigational aids key requirements and challenges for the decision process of autonomous navigation of both tasks are derived.