Smart, Autonomous, Electric: Mapping the Maritime Ship Revolution

The shipping industry is in the midst of a massive technological revolution. As digital technology reshapes ship capabilities and connectivity in maritime environments, the term “smart ship”, “autonomous ship” and even “electric ship” are used extensively, mainly to describe the enormous leaps that ships equipped with cutting-edge digital tools have made in comparison to traditional vessels. Yet in actuality, these terms represent distinct concepts in maritime technology, perhaps even different stages of evolution. Seeking to clear the confusion, this article discusses the differences between “smart ships”, “autonomous ships” and “electric ships”, while highlighting their vast importance in today’s era.

What are Smart Ships?

Smart ships incorporate a variety of digital systems, which produce, collect and analyze data that helps optimize the decision-making of human crew members. This optimization encompasses a wide range of shipping needs, from navigation and energy management to situational awareness and predictive maintenance. In a smart ship, crew members can regularly translate specific data into actionable insights that help them attain their goals at-sea.

What are Autonomous Ships?

Autonomous ships, on the other hand, are built to operate with minimal or no human intervention. As their name suggests, these ships use advanced technology – artificial intelligence, machine learning, sensor fusion, and more – to navigate waters independently, with very little aid from human crew members. Fully autonomous ships, which sail without human input, still do not exist – yet several semi or partially autonomous ships, which have been given autonomy for restricted timeframes and only in specific marine environments – have already begun to navigate the seas.

The Makings of a Smart Ship

Smart ships gain their intelligent reputation by being able to maximize the advantages of data. In order to generate, collect, classify and process valuable data, smart ships employ a wide range of technologies.

• Situational Awareness Systems: These systems combine high-precision sensors and groundbreaking data analytics to help the ship’s crew understand the ship’s current and future environments – from weather prediction to obstacle detection.
• Robust Communication Networks: Smart ships require real-time connectivity in maritime conditions. Swift and effective communication is powered by satellite-based communication systems, which facilitate ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore interactions and data sharing.
• Smart Navigation Systems: Smart navigation is the cornerstone of an effective voyage, in terms of fuel efficiency, cost-effectiveness, energy consumption, carbon emissions and optimized scheduling. Helping ships navigate their voyage with maximum effectiveness, smart route optimization tools analyze data that pertains to a range of important factors, from weather, vessel traffic and ship speed.
• Energy Management Systems: Employing a myriad of methods – from carbon capturing to AI predictions – these systems specialize in monitoring and optimizing energy consumption, in order to increase the ship’s sustainability and reduce its emission footprint.
• Predictive Maintenance Systems: By collecting real-time data and deploying effective data analytics, predictive maintenance systems assist the crew in allocating maintenance resources where they are most needed, and preventing machinery failures before they occur.

What Can We Expect from Smart Ships?

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other key governing agencies play a large rule in standardizing smart ship technologies, and moving the smart ship revolution forward, as well as calling for the effective standardization of smart technologies such as communication software, big data and artificial intelligence.

Smart ship initiatives and projects are becoming more common, as more and more fleets realize the vast value of advanced digital shipping in areas such as navigation, engine monitoring, cargo management and vessel safety. Governments are also backing large-scale smart ship initiatives – for example, the UK’s £8 million smart shipping innovation fund – mainly due to their enormous potential regarding the reduction of GHG emissions.  

With the rise of smart ships on the ocean landscape, many key operational maritime parameters are expected to improve:

• Operational Efficiency: Smart ships integrate a variety of systems that work in unison to optimize voyage routes in accordance with weather and water congestion, track equipment performance, and monitor speed and maneuvering – thus minimizing operational costs.
• Safety at Sea: An effective blend of cameras, sensors and real-time AI-powered data greatly improve ships’ situational awareness, reducing the chance for human error and allowing the crew to respond to potential hazards – other vessels, rough weather, debris, sea mammals and more – in advance.
• Regulatory Compliance: Voyage data accumulation and analysis help fleets adhere to changing maritime regulations. By monitoring the ship’s emission rates with cutting-edge precision and providing detailed data-based reporting to regulatory entities, smart ships are at the forefront of maritime compliance.
  
• Environmental Sustainability: AI-powered smart ships can analyze engine data in real-time and alter the ship’s behavior in order to moderate energy usage. In addition, smart energy consumption systems can help optimize engine performance and decrease pollution emissions, in accordance with regulations such as FuelEU and others.

The Autonomous Ship: Possibilities and Challenges

In many ways, an autonomous ship is a highly evolved version of a smart ship. Digital technologies used in smart ships are laying the foundation for autonomous shipping, and digitized shipping fleets are uniquely positioned to take a leap forward towards varying degrees of autonomous shipping.

Although still not an industry standard, autonomous shipping has already become a reality. In 2022, the autonomous container ship Yara Birkeland travels a 13 km course between Herøya and Brevik in Norway, in order to provide proof that autonomous commercial shipping is indeed feasible. Considered the world’s first autonomous commercial ship, Yara Birkeland was semi-autonomous during its first two years of operation, as regulations stated that crew members must be on board during this duration. 

Autonomous shipping requires trials in order to transition from vision to reality. In 2022, The Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS), The Nippon Foundation and Orca AI partnered to complete the world’s first autonomous commercial ship voyage in congested waters. During the trial, Suzaku, a cargo vessel, completed 40 hours of navigation that remained fully autonomous 99% of the time.

As trials provide valuable proof-of-concept, autonomous shipping also requires the appropriate regulatory frameworks, protection from cyber threats and industry acceptance in order to thrive. IMO has begun addressing the issue of regulations for maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) as early as 2022, with plans to complete a non-mandatory MASS code by 2026 and a mandatory MASS code in 2030.

Cyber threats have been recognized as a serious challenge for autonomous ships. As a result, numerous researches have mapped potential threats and their possible solutions. In the end, industry acceptance of autonomous shipping will rely not only on successful trials in a variety of maritime conditions, but also on effective cyber security that can provide the appropriate protection throughout the journey.

Autonomous shipping has great promise, which is why it is being pursued by industry players and decision-makers. The projected benefits of autonomous ships include:

• Less costs: With less crew on board, every voyage conducted by autonomous ships will be less expensive. Crewless vessels also impact ship design and voyage load.
• Better safety: By eliminating the human error factor, the maritime industry envisions autonomous ships that sail the seas with a minimized chance for negative impact due to unexpected occurrences. Furthermore, with very few crew members on board, autonomous ships put less lives at risk.   
• Environmental sustainability: Autonomous ships should greatly reduce harmful incidents such as collisions, which impact oceanic environments. In addition, autonomous navigation systems powered by advanced AI will ensure maximum fuel efficiency throughout the voyage.  

Charged for Smooth Sailing: The Electric Ship

Electric ships take the future of smart shipping in an entirely new direction, focusing specifically on energy and sustainability. Electric ships are vessels that are powered only by electric motors, which receive electricity solely from batteries or from a combination of batteries with alternative power sources such as solar panels.

A highly sustainable alternative to fuel-operated ships, the electric ship concept is intriguing due to its zero-emission capabilities. Naturally, the main concern is power – as electric vessels are required to recharge and therefore find lengthy voyages challenging. In addition, the widespread use of electric ships will require ports to erect massive charging infrastructure.

Yet the advantages of electric ships far outweigh their shortcomings. The most essential benefit is environmental sustainability, as electric ships produce zero emissions and therefore assist the maritime industry in reducing its overall carbon footprint in accordance with its ambitious GHG emission reduction objectives.

But electric ships offer additional benefits. In terms of operational efficiency, the electric propulsion systems used by electric vessels are far more energy efficient than traditional engines, which leads to lower operational costs. Furthermore, electric motors are significantly quieter than standard engines, and therefore generate less noise that can harm marine animals and disturb people living nearby the sea.

Electric cargo containers are already changing the landscape. The Yara Birkland, which is also an autonomous vessel, is fully electric. Equipped with a 7 MWh battery, this state-of-the-art container charges via renewable hydroelectric power, and can carry over 100 containers per voyage. In 2024, Greenwater 01, a fully electric container vessel built by COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Group), began sailing from Shanghai to Nanjing. This electric ship, which is the world’s largest fully electric container vessel, is geared to save 3,900 tons of fuel with every 100 nautical miles it travels. Other notable examples include an electric catamaran developed by INCAT – a 130-meter passenger and vehicle transporting vessel that voyages between Argentina and Uruguay.

As with any breakthrough maritime technology, regulations must be outlined and authorized in order to provide a solid foundation for operation, standardization, and scalability. Regulatory efforts are already underway in the field of electric ships, with a special emphasis on battery storage and safety. As this technology continues to develop, government and international policies are expected to outline regulations that support its adoption across the maritime industry.

Smart ships, autonomous vessels and electric cargo carriers are changing the world of maritime shipping as we know it. From carbon emissions to operational efficiency and voyage safety, the shipping world will greatly benefit from fleets that bring advanced digital and AI-powered technologies on board and below deck. It is a gradual change, one that requires great dedication and perseverance alongside extensive, global resource investments. Yet when examined from a scientific and logic-based perspective, this revolution is poised to meet – and perhaps even defy – every expectation.