Environmental Potential of Remote Control Technologies: Use Case Remote Pilotage

Remote-control technologies for maritime applications are emerging. Despite ongoing international efforts on MASS regulation, regulatory uncertainties remain a hurdle. Besides remote control, remote support in terms of shore-based pilotage can provide a quicker way to exploit the benefits of these technologies’ advancements. If virtual boarding of the vessel becomes possible - at least in certain cases - the need for pilot transfer by vessel or helicopter becomes obsolete. This paper briefly introduces relevant MASS technologies for enabling remote pilotage services, before assessing its environmental impact reduction potential by deriving the annual profile of pilot boat missions within Europe based on one year of AIS-data. Hereby, the speed and size profiles are used for fuel oil consumption estimates to derive a realistic estimate for the potential savings per coastal state. The paper concludes by discussing operational boundary conditions for remote pilotage services and comparing the findings with an earlier study on pilotage activities.