HANSA 01-2021

SCHiFFStECHNiK | SHiP tECHNoloGY
in a paper presented at the 19 th international
Conference on Computer applications
and information technology in the
Maritime industries (CoMPit) held in
Pontignano, italy.
The operational scenario chosen for
the analysis follows that of the MUNiN
autonomous and/or unmanned ship
project, which is also used in other analyses.
in this scenario, the vessel is unmanned
during sea passage with the ability
to request remote assistance from a
shore control centre. during manoeuvring
and port stays, the ship is manned,
remote controlled or continuously monitored
from the shore control centre.
The analysis
© Farstad/HaNSa
Navigation related
near miss incidents which occur
while vessel is unmanned:
8%
a total of 481 near misses met the criteria
for having the potential to develop
into a marine accident if not detected and
stopped and were further analysed. one
of the interesting results of the analysis is
that for almost all near misses relating to
navigation, it was assessed that the possibilities
for stopping the incident from
developing into a marine accident were
the same for an unmanned ship as for a
manned ship.
Near misses detected
by onboard human presence:
87%
However, the analysis also showed that
only 8% of near misses relating to navigation
happened when the vessel was in
open sea, which, it must be remembered,
is the only time the ship is assumed to
be unmanned. Therefore, paradoxically,
unmanned operation may have very little
impact on navigational accidents, which
constitute about 70% of marine accidents
globally.
another interesting finding from the
analysis is that 87% of near misses were
discovered by human presence. at the
same time, it was found that in almost
50% of near misses relating to fire and
flooding, the possibility of stopping
the incident from developing into an
accident was evaluated to be worse on
an unmanned ship than on a manned
ship.
Human error was evaluated to be the
cause of 38% of the near misses, which is
a significant portion but still much lower
than the 75% - 96% often referred to for
marine accidents. Whatever the reasons
for this discrepancy, humans are clearly
the cause of many near misses. removing
the crew from the ship does not eliminate
the work needed to operate the ship,
however.
Most of the maintenance work will
need to be done on the ship and other
jobs may migrate to shore control rooms
or shipping offces. The sea is a dangerous
environment and there are factors
such as ship motion, noise and vibrations
that may amplify fatigue and create dangerous
situations. However, workers ashore
are not immune to fatigue or exempt
from human error as countless studies on
workplace safety clearly show. insofar as
the work tasks move from ship to shore,
so too will the near misses and accidents
to a great extent.
Liabilities or assets?
Near misses are not a perfect proxy for
major marine accidents and unmanned
ships will almost certainly not be
constructed simply as a crewless version
of today’s modern cargo ships.
However, this data and these analyses
are important in trying to understand
the challenge of building and operating
the proposed unmanned ships of
the future. The results of this analysis
should not be taken to mean that unmanned
operation is inherently impossible.
They do, however, show some of the
challenges that must be overcome to
get there. today’s manned ships can
be expected to experience one near
miss with the potential to develop into
a marine accident if not detected and
stopped about four times a year. Some
incidents will disappear with the elimination
of the crew, but many will still
happen. incidents will be harder to detect
and more diffcult to stop from turning
into an accident without people
on board. Further, incidents and accidents
which occur because of unmanned
operation are still an important
and yet unknown factor.
author: Stig Eriksen
SdU Mechanical Engineering
department of technology and
innovation
University of Southern denmark
HaNSa – international Maritime Journal 01 | 2021
37