Beyond the e-Navigation implementation plan: Development towards the unmanned merchant vessel?

Implementing e-Navigation is a major challenge for the maritime community in the near future and remarkable progress has been achieved in the last years. Besides test-beds and implementation strategies there are also on-going activities focusing on the future of shipping beyond the horizon of the e-Navigation implementation. However, these are taking into account the e-Navigation concept and its benefits for their further research. One of these activities is the research project MUNIN, which is funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme and aims to develop a concept for unmanned and autonomous ship operation. While the name is an acronym for Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks, it also makes reference to a character from old Norse mythology. Munin, meaning memory or mind, is one of the god Odin's ravens who flies around the world independently during the day and distributes what he has gathered to his master in the evening. Like the raven, the unmanned ship shall travel autonomously around the world, but return safely home to its harbor. The following section gives a short overview about MUNIN's rationale and vision, while the third chapter displays the current status of the project and the progress achieved so far. Within the last section, an overview about the connections between MUNIN and e-Navigation is given, with a special focus on how MUNIN can contribute to prioritized e-Navigation solutions.